The End of the Mutual Killing
by ReadingForever
Summary: Threequel to Graduate Meeting. Hope's Peak has been closed for quite a while already, everybody knows it. That's why Azalea Stravopoulos doesn't understand why she has been kidnapped and given a SHSL title. Since when is she the Super High School Level Motivator? She is way too old for high school, too! In a virtual world, she and other fifteen Hostages try to survive.
1. Prologue: Nothing They Can Do I

**The story started with Graduate Meeting, and continued with Diabolical Contest.**

 **It's time for the last part.**

* * *

Akane Ogata left her cup of coffee on the table and grabbed one of the files again.

The meeting had started just half an hour ago and she was already wanting to get out of the room. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, calming down her impatience, and opened them to take a look again at her companions before settling onto the file she had grabbed.

The Future Foundation had been kind, giving them a meeting room. Recently, things had gotten way more hectic for the Future Foundation: most of the division heads had been murdered by the Remnants of Despair, leaving the organization in chaos. Since the division Akane was in was of little importance, they didn't have many resources and often got ignored by the higher-ups. Solving the everyday problems their division had was something they had to do by themselves without relying on anyone else.

It wasn't _that_ bad, though. That same lack of attention meant they had some freedom they wouldn't have otherwise.

Around the table there were five people more, four of them people Akane knew very well: Mika Yamaguchi, Saburou Hikasa, Masamune Toyotomi and Yukio Ohmoto. The five of them had survived a mutual killing game just four months before, and it had led to the five of them trusting each other greatly. Toyotomi was the leader of their group, although his actions – actions that had contributed to the bunker mutual killing game – meant he had been degraded from his former high rank. All his contacts and influence were intact, though, which proved to be vital for their group's work.

"We can't make a mistake here. Are you completely sure those three bastards are among these fifteen files, Hikari-kun?" Yamaguchi asked to the person to Akane's side. Mitsuhiko Hikari was a mutual killing game survivor too, but unlike the others, he was the _only_ survivor, technically being named as the culprit and winner of his game. The masterminds had gotten away, escaping somewhere in the world. The work of two months was right there on the table: fifteen files that had the names and information of different people around the world.

Mitsuhiko nodded, impassive. "Completely sure, Yamaguchi-san. I have no doubt"

"We can't trust your memory blindly. You said you never saw their faces" Hikasa pointed.

"I know what I said, and I know I'm right. Those three must be here"

Akane leaned her chin on the back of her hand, once again prepared to intercede for the former Super High School Level Hunter. That was the duty of the only person who had known Mitsuhiko from before. "I believe him"

"I do too, but we need to be careful" Yukio said "Getting in contact with all of them will be expensive, and we won't be able to rely on the higher-ups for this. It's up to us to do this right"

"How are we going to find out which ones are the Main Board? Get them to stand against the wall and hope Hikari-kun can identify their voices or what?" Hikasa rubbed his face with both hands.

"I wouldn't be able to do that" Mitsuhiko said.

"I know. I was being facetious, man"

"Let's cross that bridge once we get in contact with all of them" Yamaguchi suggested, receiving disagreements almost immediately. They needed a plan of action before doing anything, otherwise, the Main Board would escape again. They needed to be careful. Failure was not an option.

"We can't expect any of them to admit they were part of the Main Board. How can we know for sure which ones are the guilty party?" Yuikio raised once again the reason for the meeting. That had been the big question for a while already, one none of them had been able to answer satisfactorily. All the plans proposed were likely to fail, or wouldn't be 100% flawless.

After several minutes more of chattering and going around in circles for what seemed the tenth time since the reunion started, Toyotomi stood up, getting everyone's attention. "That's enough! Guys, we are getting nowhere. We need to agree on something, fast"

"But how can we do that? How to catch three brainwashed people without fail?" Yukio asked. There was silence for a while, everyone looking at each other with hesitance.

"And how will we find the truth without condemning an innocent person? If a single one of those three gets away, this nightmare will never end" Yamaguchi murmured.

"We have too much pressure on us. You know that if something like what happened in Jabberwock Island happens again we'll be neck-deep in shit, don't you?"

"Of course we know that! We just need to be careful" Toyotomi said.

"We don't even know for sure what happened in that island" Hikasa said "But maybe, and just maybe, we won't fall in their same mistakes"

"What do you mean?"

"...I don't know, I'm not the ideas man here! I just said the first thing that came to my mind"

"...I'll go get more coffee" Akane sighed and stood up. This was going to be a long meeting.

-ooooo-

 ** _Three weeks later_**

The rocking sound of the train gently woke up Azalea Stravopoulos. The girl scrunched her closed eyes, rubbing the side of her face that wasn't against the leather before propping herself up. Her head felt like it was filled with fog, the dim lights of the room she was in made it feel like she was in a tightly closed box. As if the room sensed she was awake, the lights gained intensity until it all was brightly illuminated. "...someone close the curtains" Azalea muttered, pressing her hands against her eyes until she felt strong enough to stand up. Around her, it sounded like more people were waking up as well, and not in much better conditions than her.

Her first thought was why she was in a train. She wasn't supposed to be here. The night before she was at home, going to sleep after saying good night to her sister and parents, and now she was here in a train, going who knows where. No, wait, that was wrong. She hadn't been in her house. She had left the house to live by herself. She had gone to sleep after dinner, making sure her cat hadn't dragged insects under the bed again. No...that wasn't right either. She had taken refuge inside an abandoned warehouse, covering herself with plastic tarps. Azalea grabbed her head, confused. All those memories felt true at the same time, but it was obvious those all couldn't be correct. What had she been doing last night? Whatever it was, she was sure it wasn't something that'd lead to her now being in a train.

The window was the very first thing she turned her attention to. Azalea slowly walked towards it, pushing her hair out of the way to take a look at the bright environment outside. It was a sunny day, the sun felt pleasantly warm. There was nothing outside, though, nothing except a few scarce white clouds dotting the sky, a sky that extended everywhere. _What the fuck?_ It felt almost surreal, but surely there had to be an explanation for that, right? Maybe the train was right now near the edge of a cliff. Yeah. A very tall cliff. That had to be it. _Yeah, right._

"Lea?"

A familiar voice sounded behind Azalea, who immediately turned around. Sitting near two strangers – a boy and a girl - there was someone she recognized. "Chrys!" Azalea hurried towards her sister, hugging her immediately, pressing her against her body as if she feared she was going to disappear in any moment.

"L-Lea, you're crushing m-my ribs..."

"Oh! Sorry, sorry" Azalea let her sister free, taking a look at her to make sure she was okay. Chrysanthe Stravopoulos seemed to be unharmed, if a bit shaken up. Azalea laughed a bit, unsettled "Why are you here? What's going on?" she felt there was something off about Chrysanthe, something she should have noticed already, but she still felt groggy and dazed.

"I don't know! Wait, let me think..." Chrysanthe tapped her chin, thinking "...no, I don't know. I don't even remember what I was doing last night"

Azalea lowered her voice. "Does it feel like your memories are scrambled?"

"I...yeah, that's exactly what it feels like. So it's not just me?"

"It's not just you" the male stranger intervened, currently looking under the seats as if he expected to find any clues there.

"You should not meddle in other people is conversations, Sir Balboa" the other stranger, a girl with very long hair and some of it covering her face, gently chided "It is not polite"

"Who cares about politeness at a time like this?! We got kidnapped!"

"It may be a bit too early to say for sure that is what is going on"

The boy stood up, dusting off his knees. "If you have other suggestions as to why we'd be in a train without memories of how we got here then please, go ahead and say them". The long-haired girl stayed silent. Satisfied by the lack of answer, the boy approached Azalea. "I heard you two mentioning something about scrambled memories. Do you know what it's said about this type of thing?"

"What?" Azalea slightly pushed Chrysanthe away from the boy.

"Once is meaningless, twice is a fluke, thrice is a pattern. What happened to our memories must be important, somehow"

He had a point. It was hard to imagine it happening to more than just she and her sister meant anything else but a pattern. Azalea sighed. "You're right. So, what do we do now?"

"Um, I think we should...you know...get out of this room first? There may be a guard or someone like that around here..." Chrysanthe said, taking the initiative and going towards the door of the room.

"She has the right idea, but first, should not we introduce ourselves?"

"Right, that'd be fine" the boy extended his hand towards Azalea "Nice to meet you, Azalea"

Azalea didn't take the hand, a bit repelled by the boy knowing her name. "How did you know my name?"

"I read your name tag. Nice talent, by the way. SHSL Motivator, not a bad one" he pointed at a small tag on Azalea's blouse. Confused, Azalea tore it off, reading what it said. It was a rather common nametag; of those anyone could obtain a dime for a dozen.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Azalea Stravopoulos_

 _Super High School Level Motivator_

"...I didn't ask for this thing" _Motivator? Since when?_ She wasn't someone who tended to motivate people. Azalea was introverted, but when she had to talk with people she tended to be blunt and not take any nonsense. That didn't exactly scream 'motivator' in any way, although Azalea did pride herself a bit on being able to deal with any person. That was a good start towards that so-called talent, she guessed.

"Tough luck, Aza" the boy said, shrugging.

Azalea looked away, trying to get Chrysanthe's attention, who was talking with the other girl. "I don't think I like having a nickname given by a total stranger. Hey! Chrys! Let me take a look" Chrysanthe approached after apologizing to the other girl for a moment, and got instructed to show Azalea her name tag.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Chrysanthe Stravopoulos_

 _Super High School Level Gardener_

"At least it'll make introductions easier, right?" Chrysanthe smiled sheepishly "I like I'm referred as a gardener...it's nice to have my talents praised like this"

"There must exist better ways to be praised than someone sticking a tag on you like this" But it was true, Chrysanthe was a rather talented gardener. The garden back in the Stravopoulos household was a marvel. Flowers, trees and bushed coexisted in harmony despite hailing from many different places, and there was not a single bug or pest among any of those. One could sit in middle of the garden and relax, letting time pass by while the breeze swayed the leaves and the flowers. Azalea had never thought it was Super High School Level worthy, though. Maybe she overestimated Hope's Peak's standards.

...wait, Hope's Peak? There was something about this all that seemed...off.

Chrysanthe frowned. "I know you're right, but someone has to see the half-full glass, right? How does that saying go...?" she always tried to be the optimistic one, and it always warmed Azalea's heart. She passed her arm over her younger sister's shoulders, squishing her affectingly.

"Nevermind that, don't let me bring you down. Everything will be okay, got it?" Azalea smiled, making Chrysanthe chuckle and squeeze Azalea's hand.

"Of course it will!"

"So are you two sisters?" the unknown girl asked.

"Yes. She's my younger sister" Azalea smiled fondly "And yes, we're sure of it. She may look older than me, but _I_ am the older one"

The boy cleared his throat obnoxiously, putting his hands on his hips. "ANYways, if we're not doing to do introductions then let's get out of this place and look for whoever brought us here"

"Do you think we were brought here?" The long-haired girl near the door peered towards the hall of the train wagon.

"We must have been kidnapped while we were asleep. I know I was at home, and I wouldn't leave my home at night unless it was absolutely necessary" he crossed his arms "There's high tide during the night" Azalea raised her eyebrows, a bit curious about such specific statement. Any concerns she would have were answered when she looked at the nametag on his shirt.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Lucien Balboa_

 _Super High School Level Marine Biologist_

She had never heard of him before. When Lucien noticed Azalea was reading his nametag, he grinned, flattered. "Cool, isn't it? I don't know what I did to deserve such title, but I'll gladly take it"

"Are you really a marine biologist?"

"That's my job! I'm currently living in a bay in Portugal and working on a project for the government" he said, sticking out his chest "Nothing amazing, but it's satisfying"

"You have a job like that at such a young age?" Azalea's eyes widened. That was impressive! Hope's Peak truly brought the cream of the crop, even as far as scouting for teenagers in a place as far away as Portugal. Lucien was a bit confused, though. He furrowed his brow.

"I wasn't aware thirty years old was _that_ young"

 _Wait, what?_ The motivator tilted her head, wary. "You look like you are sixteen"

"Haven't you noticed? We all look way too young! And I don't know about you, but I know for a fact I'm way too old for high school" he said dismissively. Such statement made Azalea finally realize there was something way too strange about this all. Lucien was right, everyone looked rather young...that must have been what nagged at her about Chrysanthe – maybe the fact her sister and she were wearing their school uniforms should have clued her in - and Azalea didn't have any reason to believe there was something wrong with Lucien and the other girl. The point about 'high school' was something she couldn't believe she overlooked, though. _How could I not notice that?!_

Chrysanthe leaned forward. "He's right, Lea...you look younger than I remember you to be"

"That's impossible! I don't look _that_ young, do I?" Azalea touched her face as if that was going to confirm or deny it. "How is that possible?!"

"Don't look at me! I don't know!"

"It's quite a problem. Could we be hallucinating?" Despite the outlandish suggestion, Lucien's serious expression showed he was completely serious. Noting the weird looks all the girls were directing at him, he flushed slightly, bashful "H-Hey, if we got kidnapped and stuck in a train that seems to be flying over the clouds, collective hallucinations isn't _that_ farfetched"

"Regardless of our ages and looks, it does seem our talents are accurate enough. Just like Sir Balboa here is a marine biologist, I am bound to inherit a criminal empire" the other girl tapped her nametag "May as well admit it here and now, since it is a fact everyone can see right now" and indeed, her nametag did proclaim it.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Vittoria Delacroix_

 _Super High School Level Criminal Heiress_

Vittoria spoke calmly and enunciated every single word, without using any contractions. Everything she said sounded very stilted and unnatural. While Chrysanthe stepped back and Lucien stood his ground, Azalea took a deep breath. This may be delicate, it all depended on Vittoria's personality. "Interesting. Do you want to talk about that?"

"I ask you to not to be condescending, please" Vittoria said, her hair sliding a bit more to hide her face "Do not think less of me because of my upbringing"

Chrysanthe grinned, relieved. "Oh! You don't support what you'll inherit!" her relief was short-lived, though. Vittoria moved her hair away, her eyes full of kindness, but there was an undertone of malice in her voice now.

"I did not say that, did I?" she smirked "I am the heiress of my uncle is organization. It would be crass of me to not to take charge of it once it is time" the malice vanished from her voice "I am not some sort of mafiosa with hair-trigger temper and a penchant for finger-cutting, do not worry about that"

 _I don't think it'd be a good idea to mess with her_. "That's badass!" Azalea said, rather impressed. Maybe that wasn't what Vittoria had expected, but she was very flattered either way. She flashed a smile before hiding behind her hair shyly.

"You overestimate me...but thank you. I admire your talent too"

"Okay, now that we're done with the introductions and the chit-chat how about we finally get out of this train room?" Lucien opened the door with a swift move, dissipating some of the impatience he had accumulated "Let's try not to get distracted before we find some answers" He had a point. Getting an explanation was priority right now, someone who could tell how and why they were in a train. Before they could leave Vittoria blocked the way, positioning herself in the doorway and standing as tall as she could.

"Before we go, there is a matter of importance to mention: do any of you remember what happened to Hope is Peak?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am rather sure Hope is Peak does not exist anymore. If any of you thought they may have been the ones to get us in here I beg you to forget that. We are at the mercy of people who may not have our best interests at heart"

"Why would the school close? That's..." Chrysanthe started, but Azalea interrupted her.

"Completely possible. What's the last thing you guys remember hearing about Hope's Peak? Because I clearly remember it had been shut down"

"I know it closed! I just don't remember why it happened..."

Lucien chewed the inside of his cheek, looking at the ceiling with impatience. "I don't know all the details, but there was a lot of corruption or something. Some people may have died. Does it really matter?"

"No, maybe it does not. I just thought I should remind you all about that fact" Vittoria stepped outside, looking at both ends of the hall. Faint voices sounded from somewhere away "I see nothing suspicious or dangerous. Step out, everyone"

The hall of the train was deserted, nicely illuminated, with walls made of wood. The train seemed to be rather luxurious for something that was meant a vehicle for potentially kidnapped people. While Vittoria and Lucien walked away, Chrysanthe stayed nearby, looking around her with wariness. "Should we try to enter one of these other rooms?" she suggested, approaching one of the closed doors.

"May as well do that! Let's see what we can see from the other side of the train" Anything that would indicate the train wasn't precariously near the edge of a cliff, like it had seemed to her. Azalea knocked on the door, just in case there was someone inside. Indeed, there were another four people in there. A brown-haired teenager with a strange contraption covering his left eye– _adult in the body of a teenagers. That'll take a while to get used to_ – opened the sliding door.

"Oh! We're not alone in this train" he said with an Australian accent, turning his head around. While Chrysanthe introduced Azalea and herself, Azalea read the nametag.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Matthew McCoy_

 _Super High School Level Engineer_

"Come inside! We all have a lot of questions to ask you two" he said, sitting down.

"But we don't have any answers...we're just two more innocent people trapped in this train"

"That's okay. We need all the information we can get" at least Matthew seemed friendly. The other three passengers were sullener, eyeing the two sisters with distrust "What can you tell us?"

"Nothing" Azalea contradicted herself immediately and gave a quick summary of everything she had found so far. Telling it all again helped her realize everything sounded way too strange and fantastical to be believed. What was going on in the train?

The man with a gas mask on his face peered out of the window. "The bad news is that over here there's only clouds and more clouds" he informed, then forced his voice to sound cheerier than he actually felt "The good news is that it may mean we're all having collective hallucinations!" _...is that really not an unlikely scenario?_

"You're not being of help, Kamiya" the only girl in the cabin mumbled, resting her head on the back of her seat.

"...sorry. I thought I should...lighten up the mood or something"

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Kikozou Kamiya_

 _Super High School Level Pharmacist_

"We don't need to 'lighten up the mood'. We need to face the fact we were all kidnapped and thrown into this train. Don't distract us from that, please" the girl closed her eyes.

"How can you stay so calm?" the man in the trenchcoat frowned.

"Elaine is always like that" Matthew said, sitting to her side.

"I stay calm because what else should I do? Panic and try to kick out the windows?" Elaine opened one eye halfway.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Elaine McCoy_

 _Super High School Level Drama Novelist_

"Besides, it's an interesting scenario, isn't it? Imagine it" she opened her eyes fully, now shining with enthusiasm. She gestured with her hands grandly "A group of strangers, trapped in a train. The destination is unknown! Having nothing else to do, everyone gets together and tries to gather information. It's _perfect_! Think of the possibilities!"

"I'd rather think a way out" the other boy mumbled.

"Exactly! Look at yourself, you're prepared to fight for your freedom!" Elaine leaned back on her chair again, her voice lowering to a drawl "Sure, that means you're likely to be the person who dies while the rest of us go free, but better you than me"

"What?!" he paled.

"I can't think of a story where everyone survives. There'll always be one or two unfortunate characters who kick the bucket" she said, as if she was talking to herself.

"Knock it off, Elaine" Matthew chided, but the damage was done. The boy in the trenchcoat laughed nervously and stood up.

"Haha...I'm outta here. Step aside" he walked through Azalea and Chrysanthe, who had stayed silent during the last couple minutes, watching the second group interact with each other. While the boy stepped outside of the cabin, he brushed against Chrysanthe. He had barely gotten a few feet away when the gardener raised her voice.

"Hey! Give me back my wallet!"

"What was that?" the boy turned around, indeed holding a wallet in his hand. Azalea pointed a finger at him.

"If you know what's good for you you'll give Chrys her wallet back"

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Aleksey Seryogin_

 _Super High School Level Thief_

Aleksey chuckled, tossing it back. "Sorry, sorry. Taking other people's stuff is like second nature to me. It's involuntary by now"

"That's true, he even tried to steal my magnifying lens" Matthew said, pointing at the contraption over his eye.

"No, that one was intentional! It's a weird thing you have there, I wanted to take a better look" Aleksey stuck his hands under the sleeves of his trenchcoat "I'll go away now"

"Wait a second, my wallet is empty now!" Chrysanthe protested, having opened it. After Azalea glared at him again Aleksey took out the cash he had taken from the wallet.

"Fine, this one was intentional too. I like to hoard a lot of shit I don't need"

"Stay away from our stuff" Azalea said, but Aleksey didn't really care what Azalea said. Instead he shrugged, walking towards the front of the train.

"I said I'm sorry. Besides, if I take anything I promise I'll return it by midnight, okay? Most things, at least"

"That's not good enou—"

"Please, Lea, let it go..." Chrysanthe said "It's not that big deal"

If Chrysanthe said it was no big deal, then it really was no big deal. Azalea just tended to see red if she felt her sister was slighted in any way. Azalea could take any kind of abuse or teasing, but she hated to see Chrysanthe going through any of that. Although Chrysanthe had said several times to stop coddling her like that, Azalea had never stopped it. It was already way too ingrained in her. "I'm sorry, Chrys" she smirked and thought back to Aleksey's exact words "Guess trying to defend you is like second nature to me"

"I have told you I don't need any defending, Lea"

"And I have told you you're too soft"

The two started going towards the back of the train, leaving the group they just met in the cabin. Only Aleksey had left the cabin and gone to the front, just like he said, he truly was going to get moving instead of waiting like Elaine had suggested and gotten others to do.

At the end of the wagon there was one door with a small window. Chrysanthe started to approach to take a look when the door suddenly opened, slamming against the wall. A tall teenager with a bowl haircut ran into the wagon, shaking his head. "Preposterous! T-That has to be a mistake!"

"What? What's wrong?" Azalea inquired, taking a look at the newcomer's name tag.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Patricio Beltrán_

 _Super High School Level Baker_

Patricio pointed through the door. "This train is floating in the air! That's what's going on!"

Neither Azalea or Chrysanthe replied to that. Instead, the two of them went immediately to the small platform at the tail end of the train, leaning on the railing and looking at everything the train was leaving behind. It was no more than sky and clouds. No rails, no ground...just what seemed to be an endless expanse of blue. "...Lea, am I dreaming?" Chrysanthe murmured.

"No. We aren't dreaming. This is really happening" Azalea said gravely. What was going on with this train?

Patricio had approached the two girls, looking into the distance and turning a curious shade of pale green. "We're in some kind of...flying...magical...train...how did we get here? Who is driving this thing?!"

"Does any of you have something you wouldn't mind losing?" Azalea asked. Patricio seemed to calm down for a moment and rooted through his pocket, taking out a coin.

"Here. What is it for?"

"It's a long shot but..." Azalea let the coin fall where she calculated a rail would be. Instead of hitting metal or anything, even if it was invisible, the coin kept falling and disappeared into the emptiness. The three watched it happen, until Chrysanthe swallowed and scratched her head.

"...the train is really flying. Now what?"

"I don't know. Have you tried to check if there's someone driving the train, Patrick?"

"Uh, it's Patricio" the baker said before looking at the hall to the front of the train "There was this guy who said was going to check it. A detective, I think?"

Azalea raised her eyebrows. That sounded useful! Not that a detective would be of much help when solving something as esoteric as this all, but it was worth talking to him. After telling Patricio to keep calm and not lose his mind at the impossibility of the flying train, the sisters left towards the front of the train, Patricio staying behind to try to get used to the impossibility of the flying train.

Near the driver's cabin there was a man, peering through the small window that let one see what was in there. "Excuse me! Are you the detective?" Azalea asked, approaching. The detective turned his head around. He looked a tad scruffy, not the kind of person Azalea felt compelled to rely on immediately.

"How did you find out? Are you a psychic?"

"...no" That question didn't help make her believe he was going to be of use. Chrysanthe hurried to smooth over the tension, smiling brightly and clasping her hands.

"The nice baker over there told us there was a detective around here! And we need some reassurance. Do you have good news, mister?"

"...no. All I have is an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in more enigmas...or whatever the saying goes. Take a look through this window" the detective stepped aside, leaving his nametag in plain sight.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Thioro Meziane_

 _Super High School Level Detective_

Azalea leaned on the glass, putting her hands to the sides of her eyes. Inside the driver's cabin there was everyone one would expect from such place, except for one thing:

The driver. "There's no one in there!"

"That's impossible!" Chrysanthe softly pushed Azalea aside to take a look herself. Thioro didn't seem that bothered by such impossibility, instead leaning against the wall with contemplative expression.

"Not less impossible than this flying train. I have a couple theories about it"

"Really? Like what?" Good! The detective was at work!

"It could be a magnetic train" he stated. When the only reactions were a blank stare from Azalea and a 'whaaaaat?' from Chrysanthe, Thioro looked away. "I mean, it's a very strong magnetic train! You know how those trains levitate, right?"

"...somehow I don't think that's what happened" Chrysanthe whispered to Azalea. As the girls didn't react with amazement or approval, Thioro started sweating a bit.

"...oh...haha! I mean, that's just a theory! I have no proof of it. In fact, it was more of a joke than anything else, you know how that is"

"Are you really a detective?" Azalea was feeling her hopes of a quick resolution to all these problems quickly fading away.

"I am a detective! I just...don't think I deserve a SHSL title? That's all" _I wonder why._

"I think it's matter of practice. Don't give up, Mr. Meziane" Chrysanthe said kindly. The detective tilted his head, humming for a moment.

"I mean; I have solved dozens of cases successfully...but I'm far from perfect. But it doesn't matter, we shouldn't have SHSL titles in the first place. Haven't you heard about the Tragedy of Hope's Peak?" Thioro tapped his temple, smiling satisfied "After that disaster there's no way they'd give any more titles. Trust me on that"

"The Tragedy? What's he talking about, Lea?"

"Beats me. Maybe he does have skills to obtain valuable information" It was better than being a complete failure. Thioro Meziane wasn't going to be a complete dead weight, thankfully.

"Forget about how the train is floating. For now, let's think about where we may be going. Do you think there's something floating among the clouds?" Thioro looked through the window as if he expected a floating island to appear at any moment.

"That can't be a serious question" Azalea mumbled, but Chrysanthe seemed to be considering it seriously. Before she could say anything, a voice sounded through speakers in the corners of the room they were in at the moment, a robotic, mechanical female voice:

 _'Hostages, we'll be arriving to our destination shortly. Your luggage has arrived already. Please form an orderly line in front of the train doors and don't leave the station until you receive authorization'_

Thioro looked at his feet. "It doesn't feel like we're descending. Unless the train starts plummeting in the next minute or two, we really are going to arrive to some floating place"

"That's impossible, a floating—"

"Lea, we're on a floating train" Chrysanthe clutched her pendant "Maybe floating land or floating buildings isn't as unexpected as you think...?"

"She's right, Ms. Lea. Logic is taking a vacation today" Thioro said, adjusting his tie with a very lame 'professional' expression on his face.

"Don't call me that" Azalea grumbled. She knew she wasn't exactly being the kindest person on the train, and she blamed it on the shock of being kidnapped and thrown into the flying vehicle. _I'll calm down once I'm out of here._

Just like the announcement said, after a few minutes the train started slowing down. A dozen people, among them everyone Azalea had already met and the rest being complete strangers, gathered in front of what seemed to be the doors of the train. The vehicle slowed down to a complete halt. As if a veil was removed, pristine, bright sunlight poured through the windows of the train. The air was clean, pleasant. If it weren't because of the problem regarding the train and the kidnapping, it would be a nice sensation.

"W-What's this peaceful atmosphere...?"

"Our day got brighter, somehow"

"The train was flying before! I know what I saw"

"I saw it too!"

"There must be a rational explanation for that. Wait until we're out of here"

"There'll be someone to answer our questions, right?"

"Don't get too far away from me, Chrys. Many will want to get out before the rest" Azalea whispered to her sister. Chrysanthe got a bit closer to Azalea right when the doors of the train opened.

Once everyone inside the train was able to get their eyes used to the bright sunlight outside, they all stepped outside, blinking and walking hesitantly like newborn chicks. They were all standing on a train station, clean and quaint. Some of them were standing near the railing at the end of the platform, a couple went and took a look over it, followed by Azalea "...this has to be a dream"

"Are we on some sort of floating island?"

"That's what it looks like! This is..."

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto" Azalea murmured, feeling a shiver down her back. Falling from such altitude would be a nightmarish way to die. Trying to get that mental image out of her head, Azalea returned with Chrysanthe, who stayed near the train. There didn't seem to be any options on what to do other than waiting for someone to appear.

A couple people got in front of the tall steel gates of the station, eyeing the top of it. There seemed to be enough space for someone to sneak between the top of the gate and the ceiling, but it was rather far away. "Hey! Come here for a second" one of them beckoned Azalea. Once she got close enough, she pointed upwards "We need a third person here"

"That we do! Dalia here wants to try to escape the station, and you're going to help us achieve it!" a boy in a rather striking costume proclaimed as if Azalea had already given her approval "Dalia will form the base, you stand on her, and then—"

"...I don't think I have enough strength to hold someone above me" Azalea said, taking a better look at the two people in front of her.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Dalia Roble_

 _Super High School Level Ecologist_

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Alistair Sullivan_

 _Super High School Level Child Entertainer_

"...can I ask what's up with the hero costume, Alistair?" Azalea asked. Alistair's face got red, and he backed onto the steel gate.

"I don't know. I may have been kidnapped when I was at work"

Dalia tried to get their attention. "This all you see here? It's all muscle! I bet I wouldn't feel a thing if you two stood up on my shoulders. You go first, Miss Stravopoulos"

"I'd rather not take the chance" Azalea replied, looking away.

Alistair crossed his arms. "Would you rather to stay here and do nothing?" Before Azalea could reply to that, Alistair dramatically pointed straight to her face, making her cross her eyes to focus on the tip of his finger "We can't trust whoever kidnapped us! I don't know you, but I'd rather not be around when they appear"

"I agree with him on that" Dalia said.

"Yeah! Now that's what I wanted to hear!" Alistair grinned "Let's go, Dalia! There must be someone else who is itching to get out of here before our kidnappers arrive. Hop on my back!"

"Can't we just run?"

Alistair chuckled. "Yeah, that's what we should do...sorry, I'm used to working with children. You have no idea how many dramatic speeches and gestures working on my television show requires"

"I can see that" Dalia seemed to be more amused than annoyed, at least "Come on, there must be someone who can help us" the two went away, talking to each other. Azalea, a bit disoriented, returned with Chrysanthe. _Good luck to them, I guess...?_

Chrysanthe had been about to comment about that when a voice sounded through the speakers of the station. It was a completely different voice to the female one in the train. That other one had sounded robotic and neutral, this one had a lot more life behind it. The problem was that it also was sickeningly malicious. Despite how carefree it sounded, Azalea tensed up, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of her stomach.

"Ah, ah...mike check! Mike cheeeeck! Can you all hear me? Hello?"

Everyone stopped where they were standing and looked towards the speakers, murmuring to each other. There was a lot of static and noise in the announcement, and soon the connection was cut off with a strident sound. About time someone stepped forward to give explanations! No one came by, though. The gates of the train station didn't open, and nothing else was said through the speakers.

After a moment of doubt and uneasiness Azalea dared to slowly start walking towards the gates. _Maybe those two were onto something about trying to climb the gate..._

"Now this is better! It's so nice to see your cute little faces in 'bearson'" someone said pleasantly "No, wait...that doesn't work as a pun. Ignore that!"

The source of the voice was _on_ the train. The sixteen people turned around, facing the small black and white bear on top of the driver's wagon. For a moment all anyone did was stare at the bear, unsure how to take this sudden arrival. After the flying train and the floating train station stuck wherever they were at right now, something like the bear was just one oddity more in what was turning out to be a very weird day.

"Silent crowd today. I thought my sudden appearance would bring a lot more enthusiasm than this!"

"...who...who are you?" Matthew asked what everyone was wondering. The bear immediately jumped to the chance of introducing himself, talking much louder than before.

"I am Monobear! I am the manager of this resort! As manager, allow me to welcome you to Heavenly Resort!" he stopped as if now he expected applause or something like that. No one said a thing. "What's wrong with you all?"

"Lea, I don't understand a thing anymore" Chrysanthe whispered to her.

"If you're here it means you were chosen by Hope's Peak Academy to attend the school and form the 80th Class. Congratulations! You're all the future of the world!"

"But I already graduated high school!"

Monobear ignored that. "Unfortunately it seems there was a small problem along the way and now you're here, high in the sky and with no way out. Instead of a fun and healthy school life, you all have been forcibly relocated to our resort, where you're expected to stay for the foreseeable future"

"Now, wait a second here, villain!" Alistair shouted "I know very well Hope's Peak doesn't even exist anymore. Stop lying and tell us what's going on?"

The bear's eye glistened when he looked at Alistair with disdain. "Are you sure about that? Call it a feeling, but I think all of you have your pretty little heads a bit scrambled up. I doubt any of you can even recall what you had for dinner last night!"

"What do you know about that?" Aleksey stepped forward, defiant. Monobear wasn't impressed by that, he leaned forward, his smile widening.

"I know it all! But it's not important, Seryogin-kun. Now that you remind me, let's get the FAQ out of the way before starting the main event" Monobear took out a few index cards, reading them quickly. "My name is Monobear. Yes, I'm real. No, I'm not a toy. Yes, I'm a bear. Yes, I trapped you all here. Yes, there's a way out. Yes, this is a virtual world. Done! Any other questions?"

"What do you mean with 'virtual world'?" Kamiya asked. That explained a lot of things, though. Azalea didn't have a hard time accepting such explanation, if only because she wanted to cling to the only logical way everything she was seeing made sense.

"Of course! That explains this all! The train, the floating station, we being up here in the sky...that solves it!" Thioro nodded confidently as if he had achieved something monumental.

"'Virtual world' means what it sounds like: a virtual world. You're all inside a computer. That means you have no way to get out of here unless _I_ approve it. Always remember that!"

"That explains why I can understand what everyone is saying! I was wondering how everyone here could speak Spanish" Patricio crossed his arms.

"The virtual environment must be translating our words to everyone's native languages. Does it really matter?" Aleksey said.

A rather large man strode to the train, hitting his fist against his palm. "Alright, bear, spill it out already: when are we getting out of this virtual world of yours?"

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Runihura Acurio_

 _Super High School Level Videographer_

"That's what I'm going to explain now, Acurio-kun" Monobear sat on the edge of the wagon ceiling "You're all trapped here, and you won't get out of here until _we_ get what we want. It doesn't matter if it takes days, weeks or years, you'll be staying here indefinitely" he tilted his head "Or until we get tired of providing food to you all, so don't take too long to do what we want if you don't want us to run out of patience"

"What do you even want from us?!" Kamiya shouted, but the question was ignored.

"But I'm a merciful bear! That's why I'm giving you all a way to get out of here even if you don't cooperate the way we want to! If you murder someone and manage to not get caught, we'll agree to let you out of our virtual world!"

"Kill someone?!" Matthew turned paler than he was already. The rest took the bear's statement with varying grades of reticence, all of them understanding none of them were in position to protest.

Vittoria covered her face with her hair "He cannot be serious. This has to be a very bad joke"

The explanation as to how the murder and trials happened went without a hitch, mostly because Monobear ignored the demands of explanations and other questions. Azalea listened without protesting. It wasn't like anything could be done to counter anything Monobear was saying. If they were all in a virtual world, then they were all at the mercy of whoever was watching over it. Crying and trying to fight the bear would lead nowhere fast. _At least that explains how we got in a train and all that._

"Let me see if I understand" Dalia closed her eyes "If someone dies there'll be a trial to decide who is the killer, right? So what happens if we get it wrong? The killer would just walk away and be freed from this world?"

"That's right!" Monobear replied cheerfully.

"And if we catch the killer will we be able to lock them away or something?" Azalea asked.

"If you want to lock away a battered, pulverized or broken corpse then go ahead! Do that. I have no complaints on that regard"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Aleksey shouted.

"If the blackened is successfully caught they'll be e-xe-cu-ted. I have already prepared executions for all of you, too. Boy can't I wait to use them!"

"You can't execute the killer just like that! That's insane!" Kamiya protested.

"Of course I can! I'm the manager, I have _privileges_ " Monobear tilted his head "So if you innocent people don't want to be the ones to be executed you better prepare to catch the culprits. Not that I care any less if you all crash and burn during the first trial!"

"You seem awfully sure there'll be a murder in the first place" a short and elegant lass said, her voice dripping with derision.

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Joanna Da Silva_

 _Super High School Level Violinist_

Monobear sighed. "Of course there'll be murders! It's the only way to escape. Besides, who knows? Maaaaaybe there'll be a couple reasons more to kill and win?"

"No one would be as callous as to let fifteen people die just to get out of here"

"You underestimate the people around you, Silva-san. Humans are full of hatred, and want nothing more than take care of themselves. Look around you.

Can you trust any of them?"

Joanna's lips turned into a thin line while she turned her head around. The bear was right, no one could be trusted. Who knew what any of them were thinking, if anyone was planning to sacrifice all of their lives in exchange for freedom. Was that what the kidnappers wanted? To get rid of fifteen of them and leave only one person get out?

The gates behind all of them opened with a click, parting open and revealing a stone path towards a group of buildings not too far from there. "You're free to enter the rest of Heavenly Resort. Enjoy your stay while it lasts, everyone!" Monobear moved to disappear behind the train, but Chrysanthe piped up with a 'wait!'

"Uh, Mr. Bear? I, um...I was wondering...why were we kidnapped? Do we have something the-the kidnappers want or...?" her voice was trembling, the thought of being in mortal danger was too much for her. Monobear shrugged as if Chrysanthe had asked something inconsequential and pointless for everyone. The sixteen hostages paid attention to whatever Monobear was going to reply. Noting everyone had their eyes on him, Monobear shook his head, chuckling softly to himself.

"Details, details. We'll tell you if we feel like it. Kill each other now, we'll talk later.

Enjoy the Hostage Life of Mutual Killing, everyone!"

"...he didn't even say what they want from us" Chrysanthe said, clutching her pendant again.

Monobear jumped behind the train, disappearing from sight and leaving sixteen confused Hostages in the train station, about to cross the gates and go into what may be the last place many of them would be at.

The last mutual killing game had started.

* * *

 **Two hostages remain to be introduced.**


	2. Prologue: Nothing They Can Do II

Heavenly Resort was a rather fitting name despite the situation they all found themselves into. As soon as the group exited the station and started walking down a cobblestone path towards a cluster of buildings in the distance, Azalea was able to take a better look at everything. It did look like a vision of what some would think paradise is: floating islands, green grass, flowers doting the place, there were even ponds and rivers pouring water onto the void. The weather was pleasant, not too hot despite there being not even a single cloud above their heads, and the air was pristine. It would be a truly relaxing place despite the impossibility of its existence, but Monobear's mutual killing game hung over their heads like a guillotine.

"It's hard to believe such a beautiful place will be where some of us will die" Alistair commented, running a bit ahead to take a better look at the white buildings in the distance.

"Do you really think people will die?" Dalia asked him.

"I'm sure it is. We're trapped, and we got offered a way out. There'll always be a few who'll take the chance"

"I wouldn't mind living here for a while!" Azalea lied, attempting to bluff in order to dissuade anyone who could be planning murder already "It's nice, we'd be taken care of – there's no downside besides not being able to get out of here"

"Taken care of...you make it sound like we would be no more than simple _pets_ " Vittoria said, gritting her teeth.

"I don't want to be here. I have a life back at home!" Chrysanthe protested loudly, something she didn't tend to do. Such unusual behavior prompted Azalea to turn her head around, her walk slowing down "Lea, please don't say that. We _need_ to return home"

"Does that mean you're already considering...murder?" Thioro had approached surreptitiously listening carefully what the sisters were saying, and was now peering over Chrysanthe's shoulder with a sly grin. Chrysanthe denied it immediately, her eyes widening in panic.

"We're Hostages, they control everything we have, including food. If they get tired of us they can starve us to death or kill us quicker" Aleksey pointed nonchalantly, looking at the sky as if he had just commented what nice weather this was. Everyone else didn't take well what he said.

"Surely if they get tired of us they'll let us go, right? Right?" one of the two last people Azalea didn't know said, hiding his face behind starry fabric "...why is no one agreeing with me...?"

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Khotso Thobi_

 _Super High School Level Astronomer_

Once the group arrived to the cluster of buildings, they got to a large round plaza positioned in an outcrop, a space that'd lead to every place available. Grass and small flowers grew in the fissures of the cobblestone, and there was a large statue right in the center of the plaza. It was a rather unpleasant reminder of the situation they were in:

The statue had three Monobears, two supporting a third one in the air. The one on top pointed in direction of the train station, claws extended and with his large half-grin visible to everyone. Azalea narrowed her eyes. Just what they all needed, Monobear claiming his rule over everything like this. "This statue...we would be able to see it from any place we are at" Vittoria noted, looking at the buildings all around them.

"What did you expect? I bet there's going to be Monobears inside the buildings, he's the type that'd remind us he has the upper hand all the time" Lucien said.

At this point the group decided to disperse and reunite in one hours to discuss everything they had seen. They'd cover much more ground if they separated. Azalea looked towards Chrysanthe, who had walked towards Alistair and Dalia. "Chrys, are you coming?"

"I'm going with them" Chrysanthe said "I like them. That's okay, right?"

Although letting her sister go with two total strangers was something Azalea wasn't comfortable with, it wasn't like she could police what Chrysanthe wanted to do. Once Chrysanthe, her two new friends and everyone else left, Azalea sighed and crouched beside the statue with the three Monobears, examining every inch of the base. There should be a plaque somewhere, right? Indeed, in the back of the statue, there was a small plaque with an inscription.

 _The Five Guardians of Jabberwock Island_

"...what?" That made no sense at all. After looking again at the three Monobears, Azalea stepped away to go towards what seemed to be cottages in a nearby area.

The path divided into four, leading towards four smaller areas, where four cabins in each one awaited. Azalea walked towards one of them, finding the name of one of the Hostages inscribed in a plaque on the door. 'Lucien Balboa' said the plaque _. So we all have cabins..._ It was rather big for a one room cottage. Azalea peered through the window, finding the cabin was rather nicely decorated.

It seemed the voice in the train had said the truth in a way. There were many things that simply couldn't have belonged to the cabin from the beginning. The one Azalea was peeking into had a rather large aquarium, filled with exotic fishes and sea bottom-dwelling animals. There was even a particularly large anemone, placed in a corner of the aquarium. The decoration on the walls also had things like a rudder and a diagram of abyssal marine creatures. "This is definitely Lucien's cottage" Azalea said, stepping away of the window, and looked for her cabin.

The cottage with the plaque with Azalea's name was locked, but there was a note pinned to the door.

 _Please remember to pick up your key at the Petting Zoo!_

"The Petting Zoo? What the heck?" why were the cottage keys in the Petting Zoo? Still, at least now she knew where to go. Shouldn't be too hard to find an outdoors place filled with animals. Besides, there was another suspicious matter regarding the cabin stuff. Had the kidnappers taken careful note of the belongings of the Hostages and recreated them in the virtual world? That was a rather odd thing to do, the kidnappers sure were trying their best to provide the Hostages of way too many things, way more than Azalea thought criminals would do. What did the kidnappers want? She just didn't understand anything!

Right behind the area with the cottages, there was a large building. It seemed to be some sort of communal dining room, built with logs and stone. The more Azalea explored Heavenly Resort, the more it resembled a rustic summer camp for children. _For a paradise over the clouds this place sure is down-to-earth!_ She thought then facepalmed _That's not something I'll say aloud anytime soon._

Azalea walked inside, finding a rather large room with many long tables. There were a few vending machines in a corner of the Dining Hall, filled with snacks and drinks from all around the world. The last person Azalea had to meet was in front of it, trying to move the vending machine to step behind it. "Hey! You're going to get hurt! Stop that!" Azalea warned, approaching.

The girl stopped, turning her head around. After a moment of silence where she looked alternatively between the vending machine and Azalea, she cleared her throat and stepped back, making her knuckles crack. "...I was looking for secret passages"

"Behind a vending machine?"

"They could be anywhere"

 _HELLO! MY NAME IS_

 _Kouma Nana_

 _Super High School Level Marathoner_

"Why would there be a secret passageway here? It's just a dining hall"

Kouma shrugged. "I just thought there could be something. Have you seen those movies where behind columns and vending machines there are staircases descending into the ground? That's what I was looking for. That may be where whoever is controlling Monobear is hiding"

"This is a virtual world. Whoever is controlling him must be outside!"

"Virtual world? I don't believe those things"

Azalea stopped, wondering if she had heard correctly. Was she really doubting something so clear and obvious? "Come again?"

"I don't believe for a moment we're inside a computer or whatever"

"B-But—how can you think that?" Azalea shouted and shook her head, a bit embarrassed "I'm sorry for raising my voice, but we're on a floating island in middle of the sky! We arrived here by flying train! There's a bear telling us to kill each other! There's no way we're not in a virtual world!"

"...I just—"

"If it isn't a virtual world then what is this?!"

Drops of sweat appeared on Kouma's forehead. The marathoner swept her forehead, looking at the vending machine again. "I don't know! All I believe is that it's not a virtual world, and that's the end of this discussion. Things like—like—virtual worlds, killing games, all this—it doesn't make any sense! How am I supposed to accept everything that happened?"

So that was what was wrong...Azalea smiled calmly and ordered her thoughts, thinking exactly what to tell her. "It's hard to believe, isn't it?"

"It's more than hard to believe! I haven't been this confused ever in my life!"

"I don't think anyone can believe this is happening, but you know what? There's no sense in wondering. What matters is that we're hostages, and we all need to work together. Everything else is secondary"

Kouma was silent, inexpressive, and Azalea wondered if anything she had said had been convincing. When she had been about to try to add something else, Kouma sighed, leaning her forehead on the side of the vending machine "Yeah, you're right. It's just that—it's so sudden—I don't know. It's as if the world doesn't make sense anymore. You have any idea how hard it's to believe any of this? I'd believe quicker I died and fell in coma or something"

"What I'm doing right now is try to ignore the fact we're on a floating island and focus on exploring. Try that, see if that helps"

"Yeah...yeah, I will—I should try that. Thank you, Stravopoulos" Kouma grinned "If you hadn't come I think I'd have teared my hair out. Seriously, thank you"

"If you need anything just come talk with me. I'll lend you a hand anytime"

"Thank you. I will—I'll need to take that offer—someday, yeah. You're my new pal, okay? The person I can rely on without question. Congratulations!" Kouma put her fist prepared for a fistbump, which Azalea returned with a bit of enthusiasm. Satisfied with the new friendship they had just created, Kouma left the Dining Hall, jogging away. _She'll be fine._

Once Azalea made sure there was nothing behind the vending machine, she glanced around the Dining Hall in case there was something else she should take a look at, but it all seemed normal. There were only two doors more, positioned at the end of room. There were signs over them. The left one said 'Kitchen', while the other...

"Petting Zoo?"

There was a petting zoo right behind that door? She thought it'd be in some other place outdoors! After a moment of doubt Azalea decided she wanted a bit of normalcy before taking a look at the so-called petting zoo, so she peered into the kitchen first.

Matthew McCoy and Patricio Beltrán were already in there, examining the place. Matthew was rooting through cabinets and with the strange machine over his eye extended at full capacity. Several pots, pans and other kitchen implements were strewn around him while he practically disappeared inside the biggest cabinet, until Azalea entered and grabbed him by the ankle. "Surprise, Matthew!" Matthew tried to stand up, startled, but all he achieved was hit the back of his head against the edge of the cabinet door.

"Aaaaagh! Why would you do that?!" he demanded to know, holding the back of his head with both hands and trying not to cry out of pain. Apologetic, Azalea helped him stand up.

"I bet she did that on purpose. She looks like the jokester type" Patricio said, smirking and opening the ovens to take a look inside.

"Oh, shut up, Patrick" Azalea said, trying to take a look at Matthew's head.

"I already told you it's Patricio. Why can't you get my name right?" he scowled.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Matthew stepped away from Azalea and started putting back the pots and pans "I don't think anyone will cook for us. We're on our own"

"Do we need to cook? Can't the kidnappers conjure up food?" Azalea looked at the ceiling as if a voice was going to give an answer to that question.

"Kidnappers wouldn't be so considerate. Besides we have a chef here, don't we?" they both turned their heads around towards Patricio, who raised his hands defensively.

"Do you want to only eat bread and cakes every meal, every day? Forget that, there must be someone else who can cook" the baker said "But this is a very good kitchen...it has a lot of implements and objects we could use. Here, take a look at this" Patricio opened one of the drawers, showing the content. There were several objects Azalea didn't recognize, stashed carefully "Sugar pumps, special knives, a professional culinary blowtorch..."

"They may have placed these here for you" Azalea took the sugar pump. It seemed to be of excellent quality.

"The fridge is filled with ingredients" Matthew reported "Other than that I don't think there are any clues in the Kitchen. We should move on" his lens retracted back into the machine, and after waving goodbye to Azalea, Patricio and he walked away. Believing those two had checked everything in the Kitchen, Azalea left as well, deciding she couldn't leave the Petting Zoo for later anymore.

Right when she had been about to open the door, it opened and Chrysanthe stepped out, her eyes wide open but she seemed a bit excited. "Lea, you're not going to believe what's in here"

"Farm animals and a lot of road apples?" Azalea tried to peek over Chrysanthe's shoulder.

"...wrong guess" Chrysanthe smirked and took out a few keys from her pocket "Here, I asked for your key too. Looks like to enter the cottages we only need the right key, so don't lose yours if you don't want anyone getting in. I'll see you later, Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Roble are waiting for me" Chrysanthe went away, her eyes twinkling with amusement. ...it must be something weird if it amused her that much. Azalea entered the Petting Zoo with anticipation, and immediately saw what was so unusual about the Petting Zoo.

In the first place, it wasn't a Petting Zoo at all. It resembled a normal and common administrative office. There was a large information desk at the end of the room, shelves lining the walls, and a map of Heavenly Resort behind the desk. There were also stairs leading to a second floor, but there was a gate in front of it, barring entrance. What mattered the most was right behind the information desk, though. Azalea blinked a few times before daring to step forward and approach _them_.

 _I suppose this is why it's called the Petting Zoo_ "Who are these?" she asked to Joanna.

"They say they are the administrators of Heavenly Resort. In other words, they're two of our kidnappers" she answered, scowling. That got the attention of the strange stuffed animals behind the desk, who looked at Azalea.

"Hello! Welcome to Heavenly Resort! How may we be of help?" one of them said, her voice sounded female. Azalea narrowed her eyes and took a closer look at her.

"Are these...deer?" she murmured.

Lucien smiled widely and pointed at the female animal, figuratively glowing with pride "Actually, this one is a chevrotain. It's said whales evolved from animals that looked like this type of deer"

"Really? Huh" Azalea stared at the chevrotain for a bit longer "I don't see the resemblance"

"I told you you should have gone for a less obscure animal" the deer whispered, not even bothering to try to be serviceable towards the guests. Seeing how her partner wasn't going to cooperate, the chevrotain talked a bit louder.

"My name is Spots, and my partner here is Stripes. We're the administrators of this resort!"

"Does that mean you two are Monobear's helpers?" Azalea asked. _More like lackeys, I bet_. The question wasn't well taken by Stripes, who protested immediately.

"We're not anyone's helpers _or_ lackeys! Don't you dare say something like that again!" he was largely ignored by Spots, who continued talking pleasantly while Azalea wondered alarmed if they could read their minds.

"Monobear is not our boss. He overtook Heavenly Resort, but since he has other things to deal with other than the workings of this resort, we still have our jobs. If you want to see him, you'll have to visit the building on the other side of the resort"

"You can't miss it. It literally looks like the upper half of his head" Stripes scoffed "Egotistical prick"

"Okay, that's enough! I'm not going to be fooled by that!" Lucien leaned way too close to Stripes, who didn't back off "How many kidnappers are there?"

Spots and Stripes got off their chairs and conferred with each other for a moment before Spots sat back, subdued. "Define 'kidnappers'"

"The people who brought us here, of course! What kind of question is that?!"

"Calm down, mister, you'll make them upset" Joanna said primly before turning her attention towards the animals "We suspect there's a group of people. Two or three wouldn't be able to kidnap so many people all around the world"

"We don't know. Heavenly Resort has been hijacked by Monobear, but since he has other things to deal with-" Spots started to answer, but Lucien slammed the desk with his hand, startling the animals.

"Bullshit! This is a virtual world! Don't act like you're some kind of NPC!"

"Monobear overtook Heavenly—" Lucien stepped away, having run out of patience. _Maybe these really are NPCs._ Joanna and Azalea decided to take their chance, approaching to the desk at the same time.

"Do you know what the kidnappers want?" Azalea inquired.

"How are we supposed to know? We're just the administrators of this resort" Stripes grumbled, crossing his arms "You'll have to wait and see what happens once people start dying"

"You seem awfully sure people are going to kill each other just because that bears wants it" Joanna narrowed her eyes.

"You'll kill each other. I can promise you before the week ends someone will be dead" Something in Stripes' visage made clear he meant every word. A shiver ran down Azalea's back, but Joanna simply nodded, as if that had been nothing to be alarmed of.

"Can't you do anything to stop it?" she asked. The administrators conferred between each other again before Spots shook her head.

"We're just administrators. We're powerless against Monobear"

"He's a tier above us in the food chain, in case you haven't noticed" Stripes added.

"You're on your own, but don't worry! While you're alive we'll try your best to keep you well-fed and happy. All will be okay"

Joanna stared in silence at them for a moment before turning her head towards Azalea, indicating Azalea to come with her to the other side of the room. Once they were far away of the information desk, Joanna lowered her voice and spoke. "They're just NPCs. We can't rely on them"

"Are you sure? Kidnappers could be controlling them..." Azalea whispered.

"I don't see why they would pretend to be NPCs. We're at the kidnappers' mercy, it wouldn't make sense to disguise themselves like this" Joanna raised a finger "Consider this: if you had stolen an identity and you were cornered by the police, would you hang onto the identity you stole or would you say your real name?"

Azalea's face contorted into an expression of deep confusion. _What the hell was that?_ "...I'm sorry, I'm not sure that made any sense at all"

"The point is that I don't think they are kidnappers" as if that settled the matter, Joanna left the Petting Zoo, leaving Azalea to her confusion. Azalea, stumped, clicked her tongue and took a map of Heavenly Resort from a nearby rack. It didn't seem like talking to the administrators would lead anywhere, and neither of those animals tried to get her attention. They just stared forward, as if waiting for someone to talk with them. "What do they think this is, a RPG?" she mumbled, opening the map.

It was a smaller resort than she thought it would be. There was one single island, hosting a cluster of buildings. Only the station and one building more were separated from the rest. All the possible paths converged into the plaza with the Monobears statue. Just like the administrators had said, Monobear's office was on the other side of the resort, garishly marked with a tacked-on sticker with the shape of Monobear's head. Deciding there was enough time to get there and check around before the hour passed, Azalea crossed Heavenly Resort.

All the buildings were radically different to the cottages and the communal dining hall. Unlike those, the rest of the buildings in the resort were white and built in what seemed to be some type of marble, shiny and beautiful. All of the doors had planks and tape over them, blocking the way in. Some of the other Hostages were milling around, trying to find a way to enter those buildings, but there just was no way to do that.

Just like Stripes had said, Monobear's office was a building shaped like half of Monobear's head. Azalea looked around her, making sure no one was nearby, and stuck her tongue out at the building. "Go suck a lemon, Monobear! We're not killing anyone for your entertainment!"

Of course, no one answered.

Since there was no answer from anything, Azalea approached the metallic door and tried to push it open. It didn't budge, it felt like she was pushing against a wall. Determining doing that would be useless, Azalea searched for alternatives. The scarce windows in the building were too high from the ground, and there was nothing nearby she could use to stand on. A quick walk around the building showed there were no other doors. It was an impenetrable fortress, that much she was sure of now.

Just when she had been about to leave, she noticed a small window on the door, like a mail slot. Frowning, Azalea knocked on it, finding out it was rather thin, like a screen. There was a speaker embedded into it, and a tiny button right underneath. Azalea pressed the button and stuck her face right onto the mesh of the screen. "Hello?"

Monobear's voice sounded through the speaker. _"You have contacted Monobear's Office! Leave your complaint here! We'll get back at you someday! Oh, who am I kidding, that'll never happen"_

"...are you there? Please, cute little bear?"

" _"You have contacted Monobear's Office! Lea—"_

Azalea let go of the button. If Monobear didn't want to talk with her then she wasn't going to stand there until he decided she had waited enough. The time for the reunion was close, she needed to return to the Monobears statue. Once she returned to the plaza, she found out she had been the last person to come, everyone else was already waiting.

"There she is. She is okay, I like I said she would be" Vittoria gave a small smile, barely seen behind her hair. Matthew, sitting right to her side, sighed.

"It wasn't too much of a stretch to think someone had killed her!"

Azalea immediately went to Chrysanthe, who looked rather relieved to see her. "...I didn't think I was away for that long...I'm sorry"

"Some were already proposing to form a search party to look for you" Chrysanthe said, then raised her voice "Who will be the leader of the group?"

"I'd like to nominate myself as the leader" Patricio stood up, raising his chin in the air "I'm serious, I'm well-respected, and my charisma is off the charts. Any objections?" Either everyone agreed Patricio was good enough to be the leader, or no one else wanted to take the mantle. The result was the same, the baker put on the figurative helm. Patricio climbed onto the base of the statue, looking above everyone "Let's start the first meeting. Our task was to explore the resort. Now we'll share our findings. How about you start, Chrysanthe?"

Chrysanthe's usual placid smile disappeared before she took a deep breath. She didn't like being put on the spotlight like this, and even if this was for the benefit of everyone, one doesn't get rid of that reticence immediately. "We...uh, I mean Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Roble and I..." she motioned with her hand towards Alistair and Dalia, the former saluting with energy and the later simply nodding "...we tried to open several of the buildings, but we just couldn't get in"

"We asked those deer in the Petting Zoo, and all they said was that those places weren't ready yet" Alistair added.

"It could mean this resort was created very recently, but we can't know for sure" Dalia contributed as well. Since nothing would be obtained by asking for more details, Patricio passed the baton to Runihura, who was in charge of checking the cottages.

"It's true our stuff is in there! I'm sure I wouldn't take this out of home" the videographer showed a rather large camera, hanging from a belt "And like hell I'm going to leave it in the cottage. I won't be taking my eyes off this baby"

"Also, we're going to eat in that large building near the cottages. There are vending machines and we don't need money for them"

Thioro talked out of turn, raising his voice as if he was going to announce something important. "There are a lot of provisions, enough for us all to stay alive for a month or two! We have more than enough time to investigate and get out of here without casualties"

"Would not our captors decide to get rid of the food if we anger them?" Vittoria reminded them, the sixteen hostages turning their heads in direction of Monobear's Office. Vittoria was right, now that they thought about it. It could happen in any moment.

"That's true! They could make it all disappear in a flash—like, you know— _whoosh -_ immediately" Kouma swept through the air with her hand "Monobear could even use that as a bargaining chip to get us to kill someone – it's food, someone would crack and—yeah, a death"

"Quiet! What if he hears you?" Matthew hissed.

"It doesn't matter if he hears it! Who says he wasn't planning it already?"

"Stop, you two. Kouma, please don't give ideas to that bear" Patricio intervened "Since I'm the leader I'll tell you all the most important finding I have: Monobear isn't the only stuffed animal in this place" a few of the Hostages expressed confusion, so Patricio explained everything he knew about Spots and Stripes "We can't trust them, of course! We don't know if they're mere NPCs or if they are on Monobear's side"

Matthew fiddled with his lens. "They stopped me when I tried to go to the second floor of the Communal Building. I think they're hiding something big up there. We should try to sneak in someday"

"But if we're being watched right now from the real world, they could disguise anything that's in there when we sneak in" Alistair pointed "We should bide our time and strike when they least expect it"

"And when will that be?" Vittoria asked.

"I don't know, but once we decide to go we should be in a group of three or four people at once, to protect each other. Listen, everyone!" Alistair tapped his chest twice with his fist, once again into his role of children's hero "We must not be reckless! Never go anywhere remotely dangerous alone! We're in this together, so we need to work together. We all understand that, right?" a low chorus of 'yeah' was the reply "Good. Thanks, guys"

"Is that all? Does no one have anything left to contribute?" Vittoria asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Joanna daintily raised a hand "There's one area more no one has talked about. Did no one return to the train station area?" There was silence. No one had even thought that was something that needed to be done.

"...did you return to the station? Can we go somewhere else?!" Chrysanthe's spirits lifted at the possibility the Heavenly Resort wasn't the only place they could go to, virtual world or not. Joanna smiled lightly.

"No, we're not that lucky. What I found is to the side of the station, in an alternate road. Look in that direction" Joanna pointed in direction of the station, and what she was talking was obvious to everyone. There was a small area of the floating island right to the side of the station, an area no one else had noticed when they had exited the train station at arrival. On it there were what seemed to be bleachers, and a couple square buildings.

Alistair shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and peered into the distance "What's that?"

"It's a stadium...in a way. There's a running track, there's an archery range...everything we would need or want for sports. I'm not one for sports myself, but I think some of us here would enjoy that place"

"Ssssoooo..." Khotso scratched the back of his head "...no one found anything useful?"

"We're in a virtual world. If we found something, the kidnappers could erase it in a second" Thioro pointed "And anything we find about them will exist because they make it exist. We'll have to take everything with a grain of salt"

"I wish we at least knew why we were kidnapped" Runihura, who had been fiddling with his rather large video camera, stood up and walked to an outcrop, extending a tripod he took from his back "But until we find out we can't do anything. There's nothing to be done. So do you know what I think we _should_ do now?"

"What?" Khotso asked.

"We should bond. We're all in the same age range, we're in the same situation, and if we like each other enough to be friends we won't kill each other, and if you don't want to play buddy with anyone then remember this" Runihura placed the camera on the tripod "It'll ruin Monobear's plan"

"Yeah! Spite can be a powerful incentive!" Dalia smirked.

"Exactly! So for those of us who feel like being buddies how about we start with a photo?"

"I don't like having my photo taken..." Khotso mumbled.

"I'm not convinced, but...fine. Let's do that" Lucien crossed his arms "Take the photo already" Before Runihura could do that Kamiya hummed loudly, getting everyone's attention.

"It's weird...we all are here but Monobear hasn't appeared anywhere. I thought he'd want to ruin our meeting"

"Yeah, it's strange. Maybe the statue lets him listen to everything we're saying?" Elaine stood on the base and tried to peer into one of the statue Monobears' eyes "It seems like stone to me"

"The kidnappers must be able to listen to us at all times. Virtual world, all that. It doesn't matter, let's count our blessings and be happy that bear isn't here" Runihura stepped away of the camera "Everyone stand over here!"

"Hey! Give it back!" Thioro demanded, grabbing Aleksey's arm.

"What's wrong with you? I didn't take anything from you!"

"You're the thief among us, you know!"

Ignoring them, the rest of the group huddled together, looking at the lens of the video camera Azalea supposed Runihura had configured to take a photo. While Chrysanthe got close to Azalea, looking rather cheerful for someone who got stuck with her sister and fourteen strangers in a virtual world to kill each other, Azalea sighed and managed to smile slightly.

"Don't despair, Lea! We'll be okay"

"...yeah. Thanks, Chrys"

The situation had looked very bad at first, but there's no reason to think the worst case scenario would happen. _Maybe it'll all be okay! As long as we stick together we'll be fine._

"Here we go!" Runihura shouted, giving a thumbs-up. "Look at the lens!"

-ooooo-

The group watched the feed, listening to every word. Akane, sitting in the chair in front of the computer terminal that allowed her to control Spots, closed her eyes, feeling a strange sensation of annoyance and longing.

"If we had behaved like that while we were in the shelter maybe more of us would have survived" Akane said.

Mitsuhiko, in front of the terminal where he controlled Stripes, snorted. "Can you believe that among these all there are three bastards with their hands soaked in blood?"

"At least this means they won't kill each other right away. That's good, right?" Yamaguchi, who was in charge of controlling Monobear, looked back at the boss of the operation, Toyotomi. Toyotomi nodded without taking his eyes off the Hostages.

"We'll have enough time to do our work and find out which ones are the Main Board members"

They were all in Jabberwock Island. All the former occupants of the Future Foundation installation on the island had left, leaving behind an almost empty building. It had taken a while for Toyotomi and his subordinates to fill the building with the necessary utilities. When Akane asked how he convinced the higher-ups to let them use the building he said he didn't want to talk about it. "Let's just say I owe a lot of favors now" he had answered, changing the topic immediately.

Fixing up the machines left in the island was what took the most time. It was a rather difficult ordeal, and it would have been for naught if the software itself didn't work. The Enoshima AI had caused a lot of damage, obliterating most of the Jabberwock Island setting. It would have been impossible to create a replacement if it hadn't been for the AI residing in the machine – Alter Ego, she had said she was called - who, after a lot of convincing and arguments, agreed to help them.

Creating the islands again was impossible, there weren't enough resources, so what was done instead was create a new place, using what was left of the Jabberwock Island setting as base. Creating a floating island without ocean or anything surrounding it helped redirect resources to the few things that were new. It all came at the cost of making a small setting: only one island, and only a few buildings, which were currently unfinished, there hadn't been enough time to finish them before the fifteen suspects arrived. Alter Ego was working to create the interior of those buildings, keeping the Hostages out.

At least they were successful in creating not only three Observer role NPCs Akane and Mitsuhiko could control and a Monobear NPC Yamaguchi would use to conduct the details of the game, they also tried to create failsafes for any possible murders. They weren't sure if it'd work, and they all hoped they wouldn't have to find in the worst scenario available.

"How are the vital stats, Hikasa-kun? Any anomalies?" Toyotomi asked, going to the other side of the room where the pods were awaiting.

"The sixteen are stable. They shouldn't be in much danger" Hikasa frowned "Toyotomi-kun, I'm starting to regret suggesting this all. What if something goes wrong? You know what happens if the avatars are deleted"

"I have read the report too, I know. Ogata-san and I know what we're doing" Toyotomi looked at one of the pods. Inside there was Yukio. They had created an identity for him, a rather mediocre job, but it was good enough for their purposes. "We started this and accepted the risks"

"If any of them get murdered because of the motives..."

"We'll deal with that. There should be nothing impeding us from preventing any murder...I hope"

"But there are _three_ Enoshima AIs in there right now. There are innocent people in danger here!"

"Those rogue AIs are prototypes. They shouldn't have enough power to damage the program like the finished product did"

""Shouldn't"?"

Toyotomi grimaced. "They are unpredictable. We're taking precautions, but we can't guarantee their safety" Hikasa's face showed he wasn't happy with that answer, so Toyotomi cleared this throat and added: "It's for the better, Hikasa-kun. You know we need to stop those three"

Hikasa shook his head, mumbling to himself. "Just...just get done with your task as soon as you can. I won't forgive myself if anyone turns braindead because of something I suggested"

Something in Hikasa's tone made Toyotomi hesitate. Maybe reusing a plan that everyone knew went badly wasn't really a smart idea. At the time it had seemed like the drastic solution they were looking for, but now...

...well, it wasn't like they could back off, could they? The best they all could do is continue. Toyotomi put his hand on Hikasa's shoulder. "Stay strong, Hikasa-kun. We have some tough weeks ahead of us"

"...two weeks, actually. We have two weeks to finish before the higher-ups come and take everything away" Akane said, approaching. When Toyotomi and Hikasa turned their heads around and demanded an explanation, the chemist nodded grimly. "The organization isn't in very good shape"

"So if we don't get results in two weeks we'll lose our chance. We can't fail...this is it.

Sink or swim, everyone"

 **SIXTEEN HOSTAGES LEFT**

 **PROLOGUE – NOTHING THEY CAN DO**

 **END**

* * *

 **As usual with my stories nowadays, the Archive of Our Own version includes illustrations! Feel free to take a look there if you wish.**


	3. Chapter 1: Subverting History I

Three days had passed since their arrival, and nothing strange had happened. Spots and Stripes provided food, informed they could give anything the group wanted if they asked nicely, and encouraged everyone to stay busy. Life in Heavenly Resort passed rather peacefully despite the threat of death looming over everyone's heads. It was as if the whole group had tacitly agreed to not to kill each other, and there was an air of peace and amity everywhere. Groups and budding friendships had emerged already, sharing the space and being generally agreeable with each other. There were a few loners, like Lucien and Khotso, but that wasn't a problem. They were satisfied with letting everyone do whatever they wanted, as long as no one bothered them.

Azalea usually spent time with Vittoria and Joanna, while Chrysanthe tended to hang out with Alistair and Dalia. The six of them had decided to gather every day in the steps of the train station to discuss whatever came to mind, mostly related to any potential clues about the kidnappers' intentions they may have found during the day. "The NPCs continue repeating the same phrases over and over. I'm sure they know nothing" Joanna had said.

"Then no one is controlling them?" Alistair asked.

"No. Those admins do whatever they want but they're still NPC. I want you all to take a look at this" Joanna opened her fist and showed what was inside: a card key. Chrysanthe took it, examining it carefully.

"What's this card for?"

"I suspect it's for entering the second floor of the Communal Building"

Azalea and Vittoria exchanged a glance. "I don't like this. There must be a trap or something in there" Vittoria proclaimed, shaking her head.

"Or there could be nothing up there" Azalea added.

"Does that matter? We have the key to that place! We can't just stand around and do nothing. I say we go there right now and find whatever we can find in there!" Dalia stood up, prepared to do as she said and storm the second floor of the Communal Building. Alistair followed suit:

"Yeah, let's do it!"

"Wait! Don't be hasty!" Chrysanthe grabbed Alistair's wrist, and Dalia stopped as well, bouncing impatiently "We don't know what could be in there. We need to plan how we'll do this"

"Chrys is right, let's think this through" Azalea pointed at everyone "We're six in total. Are we all going to go there?"

"No, that would not be a good idea. We should form a smaller group"

"They gave us permission to enter, there shouldn't be any problems" Joanna took the card key back.

"That is correct, but you _alone_ asked if you could enter. If we all try to ascend to the second floor, there is a chance the administrators will change their minds or modify what is in there"

"Vittoria is right. So, who is going to go?" Chrysanthe leaned forward, resting her head on her hands "I'm fine with staying behind"

"I'd like to go and see what's in there. _I_ got the card key, after all"

Azalea shrugged. From a glance to Dalia and Alistair she determined those two were still raring to go to the second floor already "I'm curious too, but the five of us can't go at the same time"

"How about we settle it with rock paper scissors?" Chrysanthe suggested "The two best among us will take the card"

It was a good enough suggestion and it'd settle the matter, so everyone was fine with it. Chrysanthe stepped aside and let everyone play the game, keeping count who had won against who. It didn't take long to define which two would go. "So Azalea and I will go in there and check the place. We'll tell you all what we find" Alistair said, taking the card key from Joanna, who grimaced.

"...tell us everything you find" she murmured, disappointed.

"You can count on us! We'll find something earth-shattering and you four will be the first ones to know. Let's go, Azalea!" The four women left waved while Azalea and Alistair walked away in direction of the rest of the floating island. Azalea tried to ignore the Monobear statues looming in the distance.

"Do you really think we'll find something?" she asked, pointedly looking above her.

"...not really. But making people optimistic never hurts anyone, does it?"

"I don't mean to sound rude, Alistair, but it does. They'll be very disappointed if we find nothing"

Alistair scratched his neck, a bit flustered. "W-Well, then let's make sure we find something. It can't be the second floor is completely empty, there'll be something for us to find!"

Azalea dared to smile. "And here I thought _I_ was supposed to be the SHSL Motivator—"

"Perfect timing, you two! Thought you could get a bit of alone time to snog behind the good ol' Monobear statues?"

Azalea grit her teeth for a moment before lowering her eyes to the base of the statues. Sitting on top of the base was Monobear, swinging his legs, carefree. "Shut your trap, Monobear!" Azalea growled before turning to Alistair. "Sorry for that"

"...I didn't expect you to snap back at him" Alistair whispered, making Azalea giggle.

"That was nothing! You should see how Chrys is when she gets angry. It's scary" Azalea turned her attention to Monobear. "Can we go now?"

"Of course you can't! If you're done whispering sweet nothings to each other then allow me to start this announcement" Monobear pulled out a microphone from behind him, tapping at it with his paw "Mike check! Is it working? Everyone gather in the plaza for a very important announcement! This is not a suggestion, it's an order" _This can't be good._

The sixteen Hostages reunited in front of the Monobear statues, with varying expressions of reluctance and annoyance. Monobear had been largely silent during these three days, the most he had done was stare at a few of the Hostages while they were walking along through the resort. Thioro had expressed relief at that, saying that this meant Monobear would leave them alone and that everything would be okay, optimistic opinion that was quickly shot down by Runihura. "He's going to try harder now that he saw we're all getting along" he had said. _Looks like he's right. You jinxed us, Runihura._

"Since I know you all have a very busy schedule of bonding with strangers and demanding answers to my office I'll make this short and sweet" Monobear started once everyone was gathered in the plaza "This has been a borefest! This is supposed to be a murdergame, not a school field trip! What does a bear have to do to see some bloodshed around here?"

"Did you really think you could simply tell people to kill each other? That there'd be people jumping at the chance...?" Khotso dared to say loudly, stepping back once Monobear glared at him, with his eye glowing dangerously.

"I figured there'd be two or three itching to go to the real world immediately, but I suppose they got cold feet. That's why you're here now! I'm going to give you an extra reward if you kill someone and get away with it"

Everyone fell silent, a feeling of dread invading every single Hostage in the plaza. Whatever Monobear had planned couldn't be good at all. Monobear relished in the silence before raising his arms in the air, excited. "None of you have forgotten you're in a virtual world, have you? Your bodies are outside, but your minds have been downloaded into our servers. That's how you're interacting with this world.

Can you see where this is going?" his voice was subtly shaking with emotion.

Elaine gulped, feeling a shiver down her back. "...our minds are vulnerable"

"Exactly! Gold star for you, Coy-san!" Monobear started pacing back and forth "Your minds are irreplaceable, aren't they? They're everything you are! You'd be nothing without your minds! All your memories, your identity, the very core of your being, _we_ have all that in our hands now! So that's the motive today!

If no one has been killed before 72 hours pass, we'll start erasing parts of your mind. Any ideas how you'll end if we erase way too much?"

"That's crazy! You can't erase our minds like that-!" Alistair pointed with a dramatic gesture but he choked at the end. This was a danger he couldn't deny just like that.

"Of course I can, don't be silly. It'll be like flipping a switch" Monobear shrugged "One day you're Alistair Sullivan, TV hero, beloved by your nation's kids...and then the next day you're a hobo walking around aimlessly without even knowing your own name or skills. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

"...he wouldn't dare to..." Patricio murmured, having gone pale.

"There's no way erasing our minds will help you obtain whatever you wish to get from us" Kamiya challenged.

Monobear ignored him, too busy with his enjoyment of the situation to pay attention to such protests. "We'll start with your memories! Your loved ones, your work, your skills, everything you have achieved...all will be progressively gone. The more we erase, the more delicate stuff we'll get rid of. Who knows? Maybe we'll get to the point where you'll all forget how to breathe, or something! Wouldn't it be fun to find out?"

So that was why it was a virtual world: the control over them. Azalea realized that, while they could shout and tell Monobear it'd be useless, their real bodies and minds were defenseless and at the mercy of the kidnappers. It really would be too easy for them to do what Monobear just threatened to do. _Those **monsters**_...!

"There must be some other way. There must be something else you want...! State your terms, Monobear!" Joanna pleaded, having taken her violin from the case she carried on her back everywhere and clutching it as if it was a lifesaver.

"What do you want from us? Why were we kidnapped in the first place?" Vittoria glared at the bear, her eyes glistening with hate.

Monobear waved his paw as if that was no big deal. "Oh, that's something for another day. For now, focus on what could happen. Isn't it the perfect motive? It's something that could even appeal to the most moral person among you. I wonder if there's someone among you feeling heroic and deciding to kill someone to save everyone's minds" Monobear's gaze stopped at Alistair. The child entertainer, offended, wrung the ends of his scarf as if that was what he wanted to do with Monobear.

"I'm not going to play your little game" he said

"Whatever. If not you, then someone else will. Have a good life, everyone! You won't know what you had until you lose it!" Monobear jumped off the statue base and started waddling towards his office, but before parting, he stopped and turned around, his voice turning serious and sinister. The bear wasn't toying with anyone anymore, he wanted make clear this wasn't a game "Or maybe not. You won't even know what you lost, will you?" and so he left after saying that, leaving he befuddled Hostages behind, in stunned silence.

After a while the gravity of the situation fell on the Hostages like a bucket of cold water. Slowly, they started talking to each other, looking for reassurance and trying to determine if Monobear's threat was credible enough. "He can't do that, can he?" Dalia asked to the nearest person.

"...I think he can. They have our minds downloaded in a machine, it'd be easy for them" Chrysanthe answered grimly, her usual smile gone.

"What do they gain by erasing our minds?! I don't understand, how's that supposed to be of help to them?" Runihura had recorded Monobear's announcement with his camera and was now rewatching the footage, as if there was something said and he missed it.

Dalia peeked over his shoulder. "They must really want someone to die"

"Or what the kidnappers want is something beyond our control" although Lucien looked as calm and sullen as usual, his hands were gripping his arms way too tightly for anyone to believe he was unaffected by the motive "Could be a ransom, or about our families, or someone we know"

"Then we can't do anything? We can't just be sitting ducks for Monobear to shoot! There must be something we're missing"

"Has no one found anything? Not even the slightest inkling of a clue?" Patricio asked to everyone, having remembered he was supposed to be the leader of the group. While Lucien informed him about what the admins of the resort had said – nothing useful – Alistair and Azalea exchanged a glance. The second floor of the Communal Building was pretty much the last chance there was to obtain information. The two stepped aside, taking advantage of everyone else being too distracted discussing the motive.

"We need to go there as soon as possible. Think we can go right now?" Alistair asked, fiddling with the card key.

Azalea considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "No...I think we should let things cool down a bit. We don't know how the admins will react to the motive"

Although Alistair didn't approve of having to wait, he didn't have any arguments right now. He passed both hands through his hair, exhaling noisily. "Fine. Let's go in three hours. We don't have long, Azalea, it's only three days"

"I know, but..." Azalea looked at the group, still arguing with each other. Monobear's motive had hit hard many of them, she knew that, but was there someone already considering murder, whether it was for themselves or for everyone's sake? Chrysanthe was especially taciturn, having walked aside, staring at the cobblestones with no expression on her face. _If he was trying to rattle us all then he managed to do it._ This couldn't continue like this. "...we can't let things stay like this"

Without saying a word to Alistair, Azalea returned to the group, elbowed her way to the other side and climbed onto the base of the statues, holding onto the Monobears' bodies to keep her balance. Slowly, everyone turned to face her, having noticed someone was trying to get their attention. "I know this is not a good situation for all of us" Azalea started "But we can't let Monobear know he affected us so much"

"It's our minds! There's no way we wouldn't be scared" Aleksey said.

"I know, but think of it like this: what has changed?" Azalea raised her voice further "That bear has us as hostages for reasons we don't know, and now he's threatening us directly. He wants to hit us right where it hurts, and he'll laugh while we despair. So I say we go through the one option we have:

Defy him"

The Hostages' reception of Azalea's words was hesitant and confused. Defy Monobear? "How are we supposed to do that?" Lucien inquired, crossing his arms.

"We can't deny we are scared, but we still have control over ourselves! Think of it like this: can Monobear really erase our minds? Can he get an advantage out of that? If the kidnappers had planned to do something like this to use since the beginning, they would have done it without warning us"

"Would not that mean they are getting desperate for deaths?"

"Yes! That's what's happening, Vittoria" Azalea nodded "So if they're getting desperate, I say we don't cave under Monobear's demand. Let's show him we're not people he can toy with. So what if he threatens to erase our memories and minds? If we don't yield to a threat like this, we won't yield to anything he can dish at us.

What do you say? Are you going to defy Monobear or are you going to despair like he wants you to do?"

"I'm with Lea on this. Monobear can't manipulate me" Chrysanthe was the first to declare her support, eliciting a big smile from Azalea. _I can always count on you, Chrys. Thank you._

"...yeah, she's right. Monobear can erase my mind all he wants; I'm not going to kill anyone" Runihura said. Slowly, the rest of the Hostages added their voices of support to Azalea, with varying grades of confidence and enthusiasm. Some clearly didn't believe a word of any of that, but the reassurance was nice. _What matters is that no one dies._

"Thanks, everyone" Azalea got off the statue, satisfied with herself. Maybe she had inklings of SHSL Motivator, after all! Sure, many of the Hostages weren't exactly jumping with renewed energy, but others seemed to be in better mood than they were before. That was good enough.

-ooooo-

Three hours after Monobear's motive Azalea and Alistair met in the Communal Building like they had agreed to. When Azalea entered the Dining Room, she found Alistair near the vending machines, half-hiding behind them. "Alistair? What are you doing back there?"

"I thought it'd be good if no one else suspected we were going to do something around here"

 _Hiding behind a vending machine doesn't help, buddy._ "Not a bad idea, I think. Do you have the key card?"

Alistair showed the key card, smirking. "Never left it aside. The coast is clear; no one is around besides the admins. Let's go upstairs" The two entered the Petting Zoo. Alistair walked straight to the gate that'd led to the stairs, but before that Azalea decided to ask Spots and Stripes a few things.

The two admins were still behind the desk, almost in the exact same position they had been when Azalea met them for the first time. Spots directed her sewn-on frown towards Azalea, looking almost sweet. "What can we do for you?"

"If you want to go upstairs you need a key card. We don't have it" Stripes grouched, not even bothering to look at Azalea.

"We have the card key! I was just wondering what was upstairs" If they had an idea of what they could expect to find then maybe they'd be able to manage better the findings.

Stripes finally turned his attention towards Azalea. "It's just a bunch of records and files. There aren't even that many, it'd be a waste of time"

"They're about the last killing game that happened in this place"

"We're not the first group the kidnappers bring here?" Alistair inquired. If they really weren't the first ones, then...Monobear could possibly fulfill his threat if he had done it before. That wasn't a good sign.

Stripes chuckled. "It has nothing to do with you guys. We mean it"

"The group and the masterminds behind that killing game had completely different motivations and have no relation to any of you. Please don't think too hard about it"

"Unless you're interested on reading about people you know nothing about, that is. The files are upstairs. Again, it'll be a waste of time"

Alistair approached, crossing his arms. "...how did it end?"

"Their mutual killing game? There were five survivors out of sixteen"

"Maybe you shouldn't have said that, Stripes..." Spots tapped her stubby hands together, making them squeak softly "You're going to make them nervous"

"If only five survived that'd mean there were four or five cases in total...I don't think I like those odds" Azalea scratched the nail of her thumb with her index finger nail, like she tended to do when she felt nervous "No one is going to kill each other, right, Alistair?"

"I don't think we will, but if you think there's a chance there could be a murder, then let's check those files" Alistair smirked "If we know how those killers did their crimes, we'll be able to prevent anything like them from happening"

It wasn't that bad of a reasoning, although Azalea wasn't convinced reading about other murders would really help prevent anything. It was very unlikely anyone who got some plan to murder would coincidentally think of anything similar to any past crimes, but Azalea didn't say it. After all, there was a chance something useful could be found up there. Alistair insisted going up first, just in case there was something remotely dangerous up there. "How gentlemanly of you" Azalea said, not meaning it, but Alistair smiled nonetheless.

"Hey, we're partners right now. We watch each other's backs" he said, ascending up the stairs.

The second floor of the Communal Building was much smaller than Azalea thought it'd be. It had no more than an old desk and a couple shelves, surrounded by a sturdy steel fence reaching the ceiling. On the other side of the room there was another gate, this one needing two card keys to pass through "I bet those two deer have the card keys for this one"

"Think if we ask they'll give them to us?"

"It's worth a try, I guess..." For now, they should focus on what's already available instead of of whatever may be upstairs. Azalea went to the steel fence, finding a small door embedded into it. There was a keyhole over the handle and a screen nearby.

 ** _Please insert your room key_**

"It must be to register us in some sort of record, keep track of who enters to check the files" Alistair inserted his key, opening the door and passing through. When Azalea tried to follow him, a red light turned on and a wall of bars emerged from the floor, blocking the access to the files. Frowning, Azalea inserted her key in the door, the bars retracting immediately.

"There's no way to fool them"

"Anyone can check who has entered, I saw an option to check the records in that screen" Alistair commented, browsing the files on the shelves. There weren't really that many, only five. _This floor only has five books? Couldn't the admins keep these under their desk or something?_

Without saying a word, each one took a file and started reading. It was a rather detailed report, listing even the smallest details of a murder and the circumstances that led to it. A list of evidence, a diagram of the crime scene, a transcript of the trial, even detailed profiles of the killer and the victim, everything was registered in the file for perusal. Azalea read the overview of the murder, feeling the bile rising to her throat. "This is horrible...! Someone was tortured!" she flipped the page "...and the victim made most of his wounds! What's this?!"

"This one seems to be about the very first murder. Monobear overtook a virtual world called 'Jabberwock Island' and made a mutual killing game"

Azalea left aside the file she had taken, relieved to not to have to look at it any further right now. "What was the motive used?" Alistair looked away of the file.

"Do you think Monobear would reuse his incentives?"

The Motivator mulled it for a moment before shaking her head. "If the admins told the truth then the people behind this Monobear isn't the same than the Monobear from these files"

"True. Let's see..." Alistair flipped the pages until he found the information about the motive. "Monobear informed the sixteen students they had gotten their memories erased, and then offered to return the culprit's memories"

"Memories..." that rang a bell in Azalea's head. Of course! Now that she thinks about it, their memories were rather scrambled, weren't they? "Alistair, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Hm? Before coming here? I had fallen asleep in the studio after finishing a show. You may have heard about it" Alistair quickly posed goofily, making Azalea stifle a chuckle "'Azure Sparrow's Quest for Justice!' It's a popular show worldwide"

"You're Azure Sparrow?! I loved that show!" no wonder Alistair's costume looked so familiar to her! Azalea's pleased expression changed once she remembered a fact, though "But...didn't it get cancelled?"

Alistair raised his eyebrows before slamming his palm against his forehead. "You're right, it did. I think...I don't know what I was doing before we woke up in the train? That show was cancelled when I was nineteen, that was seven years ago"

"And if we look like teenagers then the avatars we're using must have been set to a moment during our teen days, but why's that? Why couldn't we appear here as adults?"

"Maybe there's something in our adult lives they want to hide"

Azalea crossed her arms, thinking. "They already have our memories, so if they're trying to hide something they're hiding it from _ourselves_ , but why...?" None of them could think an answer to that. Trying to think of something, Alistair continued reading the file, but there was no new information, although he did comment that Monobear didn't even fulfill his promise to the culprit.

After a while, Azalea left aside the last of the files, having an idea of what motives Monobear could use. The possibility he'd offer to give back the missing memories didn't make much sense, after all, he had just threatened to erase more and more of their memories, not give some of them back. It seemed unlikely he'd bring up incidents from anyone's lives. It was more likely he'd use the starvation motive, as well as the 'Despair Disease'. _That'd be cheating!_

"This Monobear was just as bad as ours! Manipulating everyone's personalities just so someone would die..." Azalea said, not receiving comment "Alistair?" the children's entertainer was still reading the file of the first case with thoughtful expression, paying attention to every single word. Azalea peered at that file, finding he was in middle of the trial transcript "Alistair?"

"Hm?"

"Is there something wrong?"

Alistair passed her the file. "No, I was just taking a look at how the first death happened...the victim was their leader" Azalea opened the file, finding the victim's profile. It was mostly blank _._

"What's so strange about that?"

"He died when he tried to do something to stop any death from happening. He organized a party, invited everyone, and died during a blackout someone caused" Alistair stated surprisingly bluntly, although he was frowning deeply.

"...you could have worded that with a bit more of empathy" but overall that wasn't inaccurate, for the most part "What's worrying you so much?"

"What if our attempts to keep peace and stay cordial to each other lead to a death?"

Azalea bit her lip, realizing he was right about that. It was a possibility she hadn't considered. "Then what should we do?"

"...I don't know. We can't do nothing, I know that, but I don't know what else we can do" he sentenced. _That's not very encouraging..._

"We'll be okay. I don't think anyone would dare to kill someone" Azalea put back the file "Let's trust everyone"

"I'm not a pessimistic person, Azalea, but that may be a bit unrealistic" Alistair took off one of his gloves and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Having seen everything there was to see in the second floor, Alistair and Azalea left the Communal Building, a bit downhearted. "So what are we going to tell everyone?"

The Motivator put her hands on her hips. "I'm not sure we should tell everyone the content of the files. Let's just say there was information about a past group, but there was nothing of use"

"Fine. I'm not sure I like hiding the truth, but okay. I'll trust your judgment on this" Alistair sounded strangely dismissive. When Azalea pointed that, he pointed with his thumb at the building behind him "Several of us know already that floor exists, it's matter of time before someone gets into that floor too"

"Not if you keep the keycard"

Alistair took out the keycard. "People will suspect there's something afoot if they find out we're keeping the keycard"

"...true. Give me a second..." Azalea thought for a moment, quickly thinking of a ruse "I got it. Let's say you're keeping the keycard as a way of being aware who checks the files. I know there's a record already but we need an excuse. That should work"

"I don't know; I still don't like this" Alistair stuck the keycard in the sleeve of his costume "I didn't think you were devious at all, Azalea"

"W-Well, one needs to have a certain amount of wiliness to live a good life, right? And I like to think I'm a very clever person!" she smirked widely, shining with pride. She truly had a high concept of herself, although she usually tried to look rather mild and demure, if only to avoid trouble "Everyone has a side of themselves they'd like to keep hidden away. I'm sure you have one too" Alistair didn't reply to that, he simply shook his head and walked away, mumbling a farewell to Azalea. Now alone in front of the Communal Building, Azalea yawned and looked at her clock. _There are a few hours left of virtual daylight...wonder who I could talk with?_

Why not to know a bit better a few of her partners in misfortune? Just because they were in middle of a murdergame it didn't mean she'd lock herself in her room and turn into a hermit. She was determined to continue her life like usual, get along with everyone, know people better. It was her way of defying Monobear. _I'm not scared. He can announce his threats and motives all he wants, I'm not going to cower and pray_ she thought, walking towards the central plaza.

* * *

 **Free time is coming next! As usual, if there's some character you're interested in reading more about, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.**


	4. Chapter 1: Subverting History II

Luckily for Azalea, it didn't take long for her to find a person to shoot the breeze with. It was more of a coincidence, but it was good enough. She was walking near the Monobear statues, trying very hard to ignore them, when she suddenly heard a yelp and a 'oh god!'. Azalea looked up and jumped to a side once she saw the source of the voice, startled. "Thioro?!"

The detective was hanging from the extended arm of the top Monobear, barely hanging on. When he noticed someone was watching him, Thioro cleared his throat and made his best unimpressed face. "Hello, Miss. Stravopoulos the Elder. Nice day, huh"

"...what are you doing up there?"

"You know, working. I'm the detective. It's my duty to work and find clues, isn't it?" his fingers slipped a bit more "H-Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but can you catch me? I'm getting off this thing"

"It looks more to me like you slipped and grabbed onto the first thing you could grab onto" Azalea commented while getting closer. There was no way trying to catch him would end well. She had no strength to hold him, and the thought of Thioro falling directly on her like a sack of potatoes wasn't exactly appealing.

"What?! Of course not! I wouldn't do something as silly as slipping and-" Thioro tried to lie, but Azalea's staring made him fluster and look away "—okay, I slipped. Are you going to catch me or not?"

Azalea looked around for anything that could be of help, but there was nothing in the plaza she could use to cushion Thioro's fall. "Hang in there! I'll get something" Azalea shouted, trotting in direction of the Stadium to bring a mattress or something similar. She had barely gotten on the path that led to the Stadium when Thioro shouted and a dull thud resonated right after that. Azalea turned around, finding the detective sitting on the ground, rubbing his ankles. "Are you okay?"

"...ouch...yeah, I'm fine. That _hurt_ , damnit" Thioro mumbled, starting to stand up by leaning on the base of the statue "I'm never doing something like that again"

Now that Thioro was back onto stable ground, Azalea approached back, crossing her arms. It was time to get a few answers. "Mind telling why you were climbing the statues?"

Thioro smiled sheepishly, checking his ankles hadn't broken in half or anything "I told you, I was working. I wanted to check if there were cameras or microphones up there, so we could set up our meetings somewhere else. I think I dropped my screwdriver somewhere..." Said screwdriver was near Azalea. The tip of the screwdriver was broken, whatever Thioro had been doing with it had ruined it irreversibly. Near the screwdriver she found the end result of his antics: a small sphere of stone, painted of a shiny black color.

"What's this?"

"That must be the eye of that Monobear. I managed to pull it out before falling" Thioro answered, walking with prudence. Azalea narrowed her eyes, unsure she had heard correctly.

"You pulled out the statue's eye?! What for?"

"To see if there was anything behind, of course"

"Thioro, I think any camera or microphone would be useless if it was behind a sphere of solid stone"

"You can never know that! We're talking about a virtual world. Any camera the kidnappers use would have so much power stone wouldn't stop it"

"...do the kidnappers need cameras? You said it, this is a virtual world"

Thioro's grin froze. The detective looked around, grinning uncomfortably, until he finally sighed and started pulling from his tie, stressed. "Good point. Fine, I admit it, I was doing something useless"

Azalea rolled the stone eye in her hands. Indeed, climbing the statue to do this ended being a silly thing to do, but maybe Thioro had reasons to think there was a camera up there. She shouldn't judge, no one should. "Why did you think there as a camera behind the eye?"

"...because it's a statue of Monobear and he is egotistical enough to put a camera in his own face?" Thioro answered slowly, still pulling from his tie. _That answer of yours doesn't fill me with confidence_. "Don't look at me like that, I was desperate!"

"There's no reason to be desperate, we'll be okay"

"No, you don't get it. Let me start from the beginning" the detective leaned against the base of the statues and tapped against the snake motif on the sleeves of his coat "Do you see this thing? This coat was gifted to me back at home. It's a testament of my skills"

"Have you impressed your town as a detective?" there was just no way of asking that tactfully, but thankfully Thioro didn't seem to mind.

"I have. They call me the Viper of Johannesburg for a reason. My boss says it's because when I work I strike fast and before anyone else in the force can even think of a plan of action"

Azalea tilted her head. "But what about the end result? Do you get it right?"

"I have a rate of ninety percent correctly solved cases" Thioro raised an eyebrow, trying to look more intriguing than he actually was "It doesn't sound perfect, but you have to realize in Johannesburg there's no detective other than me that surpasses sixty percent. That's why we work in teams to cover up for each other's flaws"

"And the other ten percent is made of your failures?"

Thioro grabbed his tie again. There was something in Azalea's tone he didn't like, like she wasn't taking him seriously, and he hated that. He was a detective who worked hard and solved cases, damn it, he deserved some respect! "You could say they were failures, but not because I didn't do my job. I proposed a culprit, gave evidence and considered the task finished. It's not my fault other investigators overturn my findings" it's good they do, though. Although the conclusions he gets to are solid, that doesn't make them infallible.

"Thioro, I don't mean to offend you, but...I can't seem to take you seriously. You don't act like a detective"

"How's a detective supposed to act?" he crossed his arms, defensive.

"Serious, reliable, like they know what they're doing. Climbing statues with awful logic isn't what a detective would do" once again, Azalea wasn't sure how to say it less bluntly, but it was the truth. Thioro huffed.

"I told you I'm getting desperate. I need to do something, feel like I'm getting somewhere, or I'm going to have a serious case of cabin fever. I thought this was a good idea..."

Azalea looked at him with more attention. Indeed, he looked like he had undergone some stressful moments. He had a lot of stubble, and there were bags underneath his eyes. "Have you...been sleeping well?"

"Not really. I had a lot of work during the night"

"Thioro, you can't just stay up the whole night. You need to be well rested. Come on, let's go" Azalea grabbed Thioro's wrist and started pulling from him towards the cottages, the detective not doing any effort to resist.

"...you're like that Vittoria woman. She dragged me to my cottage too"

"And she did the right thing!"

"You don't understand. I want to investigate. There must be something I can do" Thioro shook his head "All I want is to be able to do something and help. Is that so bad?"

"It is if it includes neglecting yourself!" they stopped in front of Thioro's cottage, where Azalea waited for Thioro to enter. The detective took out the key out of his pocket, looking alternatively between the keyhole and her.

"...you didn't need to do this. I'm just some guy. We're not even friends"

Azalea smiled. "You're just some guy but we're in the same situation here. The least we can do is watch out for each other"

"You're too kind. It'd be easy to manipulate you"

She stared at him for a moment, unsure of the meaning of that sentence, before smirking and placing her hands on her hips. "I'd like to see anyone try to manipulate me. They'll learn I'm not some kind of pushover they can take advantage of"

That answer was exactly what Thioro wanted to hear. He smiled kindly and flashed a thumbs-up. "Well said. That's what our resident motivator should say. We'll all counting on you, Azalea"

-ooooo-

The night in Heavenly Resort was strangely beautiful. Despite knowing the sky was no more than a virtual representation, surely made by the kidnappers to give them a bit of respite, no one got tired of staring at it, spending time outside at night. Most of them didn't have the chance to see such a marvelous night sky back at their homes.

Azalea waved at Khotso, who was sitting in front of the statue and drawing on a large piece of paper all the constellations he could see, and went to the Communal Building for dinner. There she found something new, something that definitely wasn't there before.

"Is this...a garden?"

It was placed right to the side of the Communal Building, and not too far from there a small shed had been formed. Chrysanthe was already there, Kamiya was nearby, leaning on a wheelbarrow. "...and it feels so nice to help something grow, it's as if I'm some kind of helper to nature. Don't you ever feel like you're doing something bigger than you?"

"Chrys, what's all this?" Azalea interrupted when Kamiya was going to reply to this. The gardener raised her head, holding a few daisies in her hands.

"Lea, I like the admins. Look, I just had to ask for a garden and I got it immediately"

"And a shed, too. I just checked what's inside" Kamiya added, his voice muffled by his gas mask "They thought of _everything_ "

"They did! I had never seen so many seeds and saplings. I bet they'd even make the plants grow quickly if I asked. That'd be nice of them"

"...did they ask anything in return?" Azalea touched the leaves of a rose bush. It seemed so real...this virtual world was top notch, that was for sure.

"They didn't! I guess those two aren't bad people, unlike Monobear"

"And Monobear had nothing to say about this?"

"It's strange, I haven't seen him around since the motive. I thought he'd cause trouble or dissent among us, but he has stayed inside his office all the time" Kamiya said.

"Maybe he'll get involved only if someone dies"

"I'm not going to complain if he never appears again. He should stay away from us forever" the pharmacist entered the shed for a moment, returning with a bottle of some kind of liquid.

"You don't think he'll follow his threat?" Azalea asked.

"He won't. I'm no kidnapper, but I'm sure he'd want us all nice and intact. Even if he deletes part of our minds I bet it'll be temporal. We're not in danger"

"...please don't talk about that here" Chrysanthe pulled from a weed with more strength than necessary, making Azalea smile sheepishly and give Kamiya a look. _We should listen to her_. Kamiya seemed to have understood the silent message, because he nodded and passed the bottle of liquid to Chrysanthe.

"Take a look at this. It's said this product helps flowers stay alive for more time after they're plucked from the plant. You should use it if you want to give people flowers for their rooms like you said you wanted to do.

"Really? Let me see..." Chrysanthe took the bottle, reading the label carefully. Once she finished, she frowned. "I can't use it. It has natural lemon extract to give it scent"

"Is that bad for the plants?"

"It's bad for _me._ I'm allergic to lemons" she left the bottle aside " _Deadly_ allergic. I'm not going to take any risks by using this"

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know..." Kamiya took the bottle and opened it, smelling inside. The unmistakable smell of lemons wafted from the bottle, making Chrysanthe recoil "You're right, it has lemons. Strange, usually citrus wouldn't interact very well with the rest of the compounds in these products"

"Be careful with that, buddy" Azalea said almost threateningly, narrowing her eyes. Kamiya, alarmed by Azalea's sudden change of attitude, stepped back, his heel tripping on the muddy ground of the garden, the bottle slipping out of his hands. Chrysanthe immediately rolled aside, fearing even a little bit of the chemical would fall on her. Azalea didn't even have time to move, not having expected Kamiya to let go of the bottle so carelessly.

Luckily for the three of them, it didn't fall towards Chrysanthe. Instead it went over Kamiya's head, falling near the wheelbarrow and sprinkling it with the chemical. "What the hell, Kikozou?!" Azalea shouted once she recovered from the surprise "What are you trying to do?!"

"I-I'm sorry, it was an accident!"

"She just told you she's allergic to that thing!"

"I tripped! I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, Lea, I'm fine" Chrysanthe slowly stood up, staying as far away as possible from the wheelbarrow "Guess that was enough gardening for tonight"

"I didn't mean to ruin your night, I just—"

You don't need to apologize. It was an accident, it's okay. No one got hurt" Chrysanthe took her cardigan, left on a side of the garden, and put it on, her hands trembling slightly. After saying goodbye to Azalea and Kamiya she went to into the Communal Building, leaving them in awkward silence.

"Don't ever take that thing near my sister again" Azalea warned coldly, not even caring it had been no more than an accident.

While he apologized again she just turned around and left the Garden, her appetite gone. _Maybe I shouldn't have been harsh with him, but he almost killed her! Who cares if it was an accident, she could have died!_

-ooooo-

The second day since the motive had started, the deadline was getting closer and closer. During breakfast the general mood was gloomier and quieter than in past days. No one was really in mood to talk or suggest something to do during the day, so Azalea once again stood up, this time after Patricio asked her to say something. "You're the Motivator, please, say something"

"But I'm not a real Motivator, I don't know why that title was given to me" she had whispered back. Patricio glanced at the disheartened group and shook his head.

"...you should give it a try. We all need a good pick-me-up"

"...fine" once Azalea stood up, she cleared her throat loudly, trying to get everyone's attention. "Uh, well, let's not lose hope. There's still a lot of time left! So let's enjoy what we have and focus on the good things in our lives. Don't let Monobear see you're being affected by the motive. That's all we need to do!" the reactions to her short motivational speech were rather subdued, it hadn't been really that good. _Seriously, why do I have this title?_

"Huh. Guess it didn't work very well"

"I told you it wouldn't!"

Patricio closed his eyes. "It was worth a try. I'm not a leader, yet I'm trying to do my best here. You should try to do your best when it's about motivating" He was right about that, there wasn't really any reason to not to try as hard as possible. Everyone could need motivation, some way to keep their spirits lifted, and if she may be the best person for that then she should try. "But now we have a problem here! We can't let everyone stay mopey until tomorrow. Any ideas?"

"I...I don't know, Patrick"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't mispronounce my name _again_ " Patricio emphasized the last word before opening his eyes "As the leader I should think of something, some group activity that should get us all together...yes...that's my task now"

"Do you need help?"

"No, I think I can do this by myself. I'll think of something. Maybe I could get the admins' help"

"Do whatever you think is right" she encouraged, standing up and leaving the Communal Building. _I can trust he'll try, at least. With some luck whatever he plans will work!_

-ooooo-

Whatever Patricio may have planned didn't materialize during the next two hours. Most of the Hostages continued to walk around the resort with rather sullen faces, the mood was even lower than before. Not even Chrysanthe was in good mood, she was glancing to her Garden with worry but didn't dare approach. "I'm so stressed, Lea...and I can do nothing about it" she had said when Azalea walked by.

 _I had enough of everyone's moping. If I'm going to be the SHSL Motivator, then I'm going to try my best to motivate people. He's right, I should give it a try_. But doing that with groups may not be the best thing. Her words at the Monobear statues seemed to have been a fluke, she wasn't prepared to do something like that again. Instead, how about checking on people, one by one? For that reason she took a look around herself, choosing a random cabin. Whoever owned it would be her first motivational target.

Azalea ascended to the porch and read the nameplate on the door. 'Lucien Balboa'. _...this isn't a good first choice_. Refusing to try was going to be like betrayal to her intentions, though. Who knows, if it went better than expected, then she's actually good! Azalea put her ear against the door, listening inside and hearing sounds. Lucien was indeed inside. The motivator knocked on the door and waited, trying to mentally practice what she was going to say.

Lucien opened the door, narrowing his eyes slightly when he sees Azalea. "Yes?"

"Oh...hello, Lucien! It's me, I just thought I could come by to say hi"

Lucien stared at her for a moment, not saying anything. Just when Azalea was about to blurt out an apology and leave, Lucien stepped aside and opened the door more. "Want to come in?"

"Right! I will" Azalea entered Lucien's cottage. Indeed, it was just like she had seen it from the outside. Besides the necessary generic objects like the bed that came with every cabin, it seemed the place had been especially fitted for Lucien. The aquarium was as impressive as it had looked from the outside, including everything it had inside. "Do you own all this stuff?" she asked, looking at pieces of ships hanging from the wall.

"Most of it. The kidnappers made reproductions of almost everything I had in my room. They even remade my harpoon" he pointed at a harpoon on the wall "Not that I'm ever going to take it out of here"

"Right, right..." an uncomfortable silence filled the cottage. Lucien sat on his bed, waiting for Azalea to do whatever she came to do, not believing for a second she had just come to greet him.

"Well?"

"Well? Well what?"

"What do you want? Please say it already"

"Oh, I—"

Lucien raised an eyebrow nonchalantly. "Perhaps you were trying to corner me and kill me?"

"No! That's not it!" being offended at such suggestion forced Azalea to go to the point of her visit, thankfully "I'm here to check on you. Everyone's in such sad mood since this morning"

"And you thought I needed someone to give me empty platitudes?" his eyebrow was still risen. _Stop that already!_

"I'm not going to give you platitudes, I just thought I could try to cheer you up if you needed it"

"How nice of you, Stravopoulos, but I don't need anyone to cheer me up" he smiled slightly, looking at the aquarium "I can't stay upset with something like this in my room"

"Oh? You didn't own this already?"

"No, this is the one new thing I have right now. Isn't it cool? It's as if I have a piece of the ocean right here in my room. Not even back home I have something like this" Lucien tapped the glass of the aquarium "I already made sure to give the admins a sincere 'thank you'"

"You didn't seem that happy! I thought you were as sullen as usual"

"This is my happy face" _It's not!_

Azalea approached the aquarium to take a better look. There was a multitude of fishes inside, far more than an aquarium of that size should hold. She supposed it was a perk of being in a virtual world, some rules didn't apply. "It's beautiful..."

"I know, right? Here, come over here" Lucien stood up from his bed and approached the corner where the giant anemone was, sitting on a rather tall pile of rocks "Check this out. This anemone is a very rare one. I had thought it was extinct already, but in this virtual world I can have one!"

The motivator stuck her face to the glass, trying to see the anemone closer. "Really?"

"Want to touch it?"

"What?" Azalea removed her face from the glass "Aren't anemones poisonous?"

Lucien climbed the ladder on a side of the aquarium, resting on a short grate on the edge. "This one isn't poisonous. In fact, some Mediterranean cultures believed its tissues could heal and give strength. That's why I think it went extinct" he beckoned Azalea "It's a feat for something like an _anemone_ to go extinct"

Azalea followed him up the ladder to the grate, lying to his side and looking into the water. "You sound like a different person when you talk about sea creatures"

"...well, I love the sea. I'm not a fan of people" Lucien plunged his hands into the water, reaching the anemone and pulling it out of the water "Here, hold it" he said, plopping the anemone in Azalea's hands before she realized what was going on. Once she did, Azalea whimpered, grossed out. The anemone wasn't pretty, it felt viscous and like holding a gelatinous bubble of some gross fluid, and she could feel it wriggling very subtly.

"F-Fascinating..."

"Now you can say you held an anemone. Doesn't matter this is a virtual world, this is something not many people would be able to say"

Azalea returned the anemone with a grimace, wiping her hands on her skirt. "Thanks for the experience, I guess" _It's not something I'll brag about, pal._ She descended back to the floor, leaving Lucien up there. "I should get going. See you later, Lucien"

"See you, Stravopoulos. By the way, thanks for coming to check on me but it wasn't necessary"

"If you want I can come back some other time, see how you're doing...

Lucien turned his head around, raising an eyebrow "Do I look like I'm the kind that needs constant encouragement?"

Azalea gripped her hands, taking a deep breath. The change between the warm and almost cheerful mood and the sullen and asocial mood Lucien usually had took no time at all. It was almost amazing. She turned around and left the cottage, closing the door behind her. He'll be fine. Not having anything else to do, Azalea looked around and decided where to go now. There was a place she hadn't ever visited, maybe it was worth it to take a look. She didn't expect to find evidence or anything useful, it was more out of curiosity than anything else.

And so Azalea started walking towards the Stadium.


	5. Chapter 1: Subverting History III

The Stadium was more or less like Joanna had described it. A running track looped in a space delineated by bleachers, circling around an extension of green grass. In it there was a court for several types of sports, a section with a wide even tent right above it, where weights and gym machines had been placed, and an archery range, several targets laid against a wall, with many bows with quivers full of arrows to the side. There was someone with a bow, aiming at one of the targets with surgical precision, taking deep breaths to steady herself. It wasn't the kind of person Azalea thought would know how to shoot arrows. "Joanna?"

The violinist turned her head just for enough time to acknowledge Azalea before settling onto the target again. "Good morning, Azalea. Come to exercise yourself?"

"No, I'm just exploring" Azalea approached slowly, trying not to break too much of Joanna's concentration "I had no idea you practiced archery"

Joanna took a deep breath, steadying her hands. "My parents wanted me to be both athletic and cultured, so I went to archery and violin classes while I was in middle school. It may sound pretentious, but..." Joanna let go of the arrow, letting it fly through the air until it embedded itself right into the center of the target "I excel at both"

"That's amazing!" Not anyone could hit bullseye, at least from what Azalea knew.

"That was nothing. It's the result of practicing for years. I regularly like to practice archery, you know" Joanna extended the bow and quiver to Azalea "Want me to teach you?"

"Really? To me?"

"I won't turn you into an expert, but maybe you could learn the very basics. It's a calming sport" Joanna smiled, adjusting her gloves "When I shoot an arrow it's as if my mind goes blank. Goodbye stress"

"I thought that was the kind of thing you'd say about playing the violin"

"No, when I play the violin my mind has to focus on the music. It's as if..." the violinist thinks for a moment, snapping her fingers once she thinks of something "It's as if you're going to a buffet and you have to choose between getting food yourself or asking someone else to do it"

"...I'm not sure how that's a good simile" _Or if it makes sense at all._ Azalea put on the quiver and grabbed the bow "Alright, let's do it!"

The girls spent quite a while together. Joanna patiently moved Azalea's arms and legs, showing her the right stance for archery, teaching her how to wield the bow without letting it shake like a leaf, and talking about her life. "My parents wanted me to be perfect, but I don't think I'm not even close to perfection"

"Why not?" Azalea closed an eye, trying to keep the arrow from straying far from the bow.

"I'm not the elegant demure woman they wanted me to be. That's the problem with traditionalist parents, they want you to behave in a very specific way. Of course I wasn't going to accept that!"

"So you rebelled? Like learning a lot of boys' sports?"

Joanna clicked her tongue. "No. I simply refused to do what they wanted once I was officially an adult. In fact, I ran away from home the day after my birthday, and now I'm completely independent. I can do anything I want"

Azalea let go of the arrow. It whooshed through the air before hitting the rim of the target, not even embedding deep into the wood and fabric. It was a less than impressive shot, that was for sure. "You had enough money for that?"

"Competitions and recitals pay quite well if you know what you're doing" Joanna walked to the target and took out the arrow, touching the tip with her gloved finger "Nice shot! You did better than the first time I used a bow"

"So what did your parents say once you got away?"

"I don't know. I don't want to know what they said. They'd be mightily disappointed if they knew what I was up to these days" she said indifferently, passing the arrow back to Azalea and instructing her to get ready again. Azalea tensed the bow, aiming.

"I think you're elegant, Joanna, and very talented. Who cares what your parents would say"

Joanna grinned nostalgically, taking another bow "Why, thank you, Azalea. If I didn't know better, I'd think you're kissing up to me to ask me a favor"

"I wouldn't do that! I say it because we're friends" Azalea shot the arrow, this time missing the target "Damn it!"

"I don't believe in 'friends', but...you're tolerable. I like your company" Joanna aimed "I couldn't care less about my parents now. I took my own decisions and I'll stand by them, no matter who disapproves. I have no regrets"

Azalea didn't improve very much during the next hour. Some of her arrows kept hitting the target, but it was always in the outer rim, considerably far from the center. Joanna continued doing a rather impressive job, leisurely scoring bullseyes in every other target in the range, talking nonchalantly as if she was doing something anyone could do immediately. Once archery practice was over, Joanna took her violin, taking the instrument out of the case. Azalea raised her eyebrows. "Why do you have your violin out so often? I don't think I have ever seen you play"

As if the latter part was what Azalea was curious about, Joanna played a very short melody without making a single mistake. "Now you saw me play"

"Yeah, but why do you have it out all the time?"

"The best always keep the tools of their trade at hand, don't they?" she said, lightly hitting Azalea on top of the head with the violin bow "I may be great at archery, but this you see here is what I'm truly good at" Joanna started walking away "Keep practicing, Azalea! Remember that practice makes perfect!"

Azalea narrowed her eyes, trying to make her mind blank like Joanna said she tended to do when practicing archery, but there was something echoing in her head, a detail that kept nagging at her. _Maybe it isn't as bad as Joanna says. She can't say for sure her parents would disapprove what she does, right? What did she mean by that?_

-ooooo-

The rest of the morning passed without anything remarkable happening. Everyone gathered for lunch, the moods slightly better than during breakfast, but still a pale shadow of the generally friendly atmosphere from the day before. No one talked during lunch except to make comments about how virtual food tasted no different than real food, and that technology sure was way more advanced than they thought.

At the end of the lunch something did happen. Patricio stood up, adjusting his white cap and looking around with uncertainty. "Um, everyone? I have an announcement to make, as your leader" Once everyone was listening, Patricio took a deep breath and managed to smile a bit "I have taken a decision. You all know I'm a baker, yes? So I have decided to improve the morale through a banquet"

"A banquet? What do you mean?" Chrysanthe inquired.

"I don't—I don't think this is the time for that..." Kouma said.

"On the contrary, it's in times like this that we need something like this to improve our lives! And I have taken the task to provide you all with my recipes" Patricio gave a smug look "I may not be the best baker in the world, but I assure you it'll be worth it to come"

"Fine, let is say you actually do that. When and where will it be?" Vittoria asked.

"Here in this room! I'm sure I can get the admins' permission later. We'll move the tables to the walls, I'll put the food on them..."

"No, this isn't a good idea!" Alistair stood up, his scarf fluttering behind him "You can't do this!"

"And why not?"

"Because...because...it just isn't a good idea" Alistair exchanged a look with Azalea, the message clear: he was remembering the file he had found. _...no, a murder wouldn't happen like it did in the past group, right?_ Better safe than sorry, though.

"I-I agree with him, we shouldn't do a party" Azalea said with less energy than she should have, looking around nervously. Patricio frowned.

"It's not a party, it's a banquet. They're different events. Besides neither of you have given a good reason why not to do it"

"Do you think it'd be a good idea to have us all in the same space?" Runihura asked.

"We're all together during our meals. This'll be like another meal, so stop being so paranoid, guys. It'll go okay"

"Will Spots and Stripes allow it? This is _their_ resort" Joanna noted, omitting the part about Monobear invading it. Patricio sighed, annoyed.

"They'll allow it once I talk with them. Look, it's just an occasion for all us to gather and eat. What's the problem with that?"

"How long will it last?" Chrysanthe wondered.

"Good question! I think two or three hours would be enough" _At least it won't be all night_. The less time it lasts, the better.

"I still think it's not a good idea" Alistair tried to protest again, receiving a glare from Patricio.

"If you have a _good_ reason to object, then say it" he said. Alistair opened his mouth but didn't say a word, settling with sitting again, holding his head with his hands. "Any other objections?" No one else said anything, Azalea included. _If I'm going to say anything I'll do it privately. Doing it right in front of everyone may cause trouble_ "Then it's settled! The banquet will start at 8:00 PM, don't forget to come!"

 _This isn't good. This is no good_. When everyone started to leave, Azalea hurried to get to Alistair, taking him near the vending machine. "I don't like this. This is too much like what happened to the last group"

"I know! I read it too, you know!" Alistair looked at Patricio, who entered the Kitchen without noticing Azalea and Alistair talking "Should we tell him about that?"

"...I don't know. Should we? What do you think?"

Alistair twisted the ends of his long scarf, biting his lip nervously. "No. The less people who know about it, the better. We shouldn't tell him, but we can't just stand and do nothing!"

"Let's go talk with him" Azalea stepped away, but Alistair stopped her with a 'wait!'

"I-I'll do it. If we both go he'll think we're going to jump him and beat him up to stop the party or something, right? I should go alone"

"Why _you_?" Azalea crossed her arms, a bit frustrated. The child entertainer, unused to having to argue with anyone, looked away.

"Patricio and I get along. I don't know how close you are to him, but he and I are friends. He'll listen to me"

Azalea sighed, shaking her head. She'd have preferred to do this herself, but she guessed she should trust Alistair and let him do what he can. "Fine. I'll leave this up to you, Alistair. Good luck, okay?"

"There's nothing to worry about! This is as good as done" Alistair forcefully did an elaborate salute Azalea recognized as Azure Sparrow's salute, and went to the Kitchen. _Maybe I should listen and..._ Azalea shook her head again, taking a deep breath. That'd be betraying Alistair's trust, wouldn't it? No, she should stay away. A bit uneasy, Azalea left the Communal Building.

 _Come on, Alistair, do it right..._

-ooooo-

He didn't do it right.

Judging by how at 8:00 PM the Communal Building started hosting the banquet Patricio had announced, Alistair had been completely unsuccessful. _I should have done it_ Azalea thought bitterly, looking inside.

Half of the population of Heavenly Resort had arrived already. Patricio had managed to get a stereo, playing music softly. The tables were lined up against the wall, covered in pastries and savory baked foods. Patricio had been working the whole afternoon, and the fruits of his labor looked rather tasty! Thioro, Runihura, Elaine, Matthew, Vittoria, Kouma and Lucien were already there, eating and talking to each other. Not really in mood to talk with anyone, Azalea went straight to the Kitchen.

Patricio was there, kneading dough and with a large amount of bread and materials strewn on the table near him. Molds, sugar pumps, jars of frosting and jams were placed nearby for his easy access. "Excuse me?"

The baker looked at her, still kneading the dough. "Hello! Enjoying the banquet? I have served a lot of stuff already"

"Yeah, it's great. I still think this isn't a good idea"

Patricio stopped kneading, listening intently. "You haven't given me a single reason why not to do the banquet. It's too late to stop it, but if you had a reason you should have told me sooner"

 _He's right about that. I should have done that_. "Aren't you afraid someone could die?" Telling the details of the murder the last group had was something Azalea wasn't sure she should do, so she wanted to avoid touching that topic. Patricio stared at the dough, mulling what Azalea had said, before shrugging.

"We can't stop doing stuff because we're afraid"

"But haven't you considered someone could die _during_ your party?"

"Banquet, not party" Patricio looked at her "I'll be honest: I'm worried, but I trust everyone, too" he paused, wiping his hands with a rag "...but there may be something afoot"

"What?! What do you mean?!" _What the hell, Patrick?!_

"Take a look here" Patricio walked to a drawer, opening it and showing the contents to Azalea. There was a long case, lined with velvet. There were four long wide slots, three of them occupied. Azalea's blood ran cold when she saw what utensils the case contained.

Skewers.

"Uh, Patrick, tell me you're using the skewer that isn't here..."

The baker groaned but didn't bother to comment about that. "No. What do I look like, a chef? I'm a baker. We don't use skewers often in my line of work" He closed the drawer "That's what I wanted to show you. When I was looking for the sugar pumps I found this case, and one skewer was missing already"

"At what time did you notice it?"

"Around 4:00 PM? I was here since we all had lunch. If someone took the skewer, then it happened long ago"

Azalea grabbed her hands anxiously. "This is bad, very bad...we need to stop the banquet. If someone is going to die during the banquet we can't let it happen! We must—"

"Hey! Calm down, Azalea! Everything is fine"

"Fine?! There's a skewer missing!"

"Calm down and listen: there's no way someone took it planning to murder anyone tonight, okay? Someone took it before I announced my banquet. It may have happened during the morning, or days ago. It doesn't matter, what matters is that no one could have planned to kill during my banquet"

Patricio had a point there, but Azalea was too deep into her worry to pay much heed to that. Instead, remembering that case, she leaned forward, staring right at Patricio's eyes. "How do I know you didn't take it?"

"What?"

"Did you hide it? Are _you_ the one planning a murder?"

"Have you lost your mind?!" Patricio looked at her as if she had threatened to kill him with the missing skewer "Nothing is going to go wrong! Calm down, everything will be fine. Take a deep breath" she obeyed, taking a deep breath until she calmed down. "Done?"

"...I'm fine now. I just...there's something you need to know" _I'm sorry, Alistair_ Azalea told Patricio everything about the case, the murder that had happened to a past group, and the circumstances it had happened at. Patricio listened, nodding from time to time, and when Azalea was done he crossed his arms.

"So you think someone is going to murder someone with a skewer. Right"

"Exactly! So we need to stop the banquet, and—"

"There's no need to do that" he said. When Azalea demanded him to explain, he glanced at the door "We don't know why a skewer is missing, we don't even know if someone took it. It could just be lost"

"It's too much of a coincidence"

"We can't do anything just out of "coincidences"" Patricio even did the air quotes with his fingers "I had enough of this. The bread lobster and the celebration cake won't ever be ready if I keep talking with you"

"But—"

"Enough! Azalea, as the leader of this group I tell you there's nothing to worry about. No one will die. Stop being so damn paranoid, okay?" he turned around and returned with the dough, ignoring anything else Azalea could say. Frustrated, she went towards the door. _This was useless! Why does he have to be so unreasonable?_ During the short walk to the door she passed to the side of a table, where there was a long dish: a big lobster made of bread.

"What's this?"

"That? It's the first big dish. I'm assembling a bread shaped like a giant lobster. It's full of a filling of my own creation. It's positively _scrumptious"_ Patricio grinned "Everyone will love it"

"A giant food item...hm..." when Patricio looked away, Azalea carefully separated parts of the lobster with a wooden spoon, looking inside and trying to find out if there was a skewer hidden inside. _Nothing._ After trying her best to put back together what she moved, Azalea left the kitchen, took a chair and sat to a side of the room, looking at everyone with attention. During the time she had been with Patricio in the Kitchen, everyone else arrived. Alistair was among them, eating some of the bread and cupcakes. "You!"

"Uh-oh" Alistair had the decency to swallow and smile sheepishly when Azalea approached. While she came nearer, she started feeling there was something off about Alistair, but couldn't pinpoint yet what it was "A-Azalea! Hey. Um, I tried but I couldn't stop it. I'm sorry"

"..." Azalea's lips formed a thin line, mulling what she should say. After a moment she finally noticed what was off about Alistair "Where's your scarf?"

"My...oh. Right, you noticed" the long red scarf Alistair had been wearing all the time, since the moment they met in the station, was now gone. _It's strange to see him without it._ Alistair touched his neck, frowning "I seem to have lost my scarf, somehow"

Azalea raised her eyebrows. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know. I remember I had it when I talked with Patricio, and I had it later after that...but then I lost it. I don't know what happened to it"

The motivator looked at him for a moment, trying to judge how that was possible, but chalked it up to just clumsiness. Either that or someone stole it, somehow. Aleksey, perhaps? "Forget that, something bad is going to happen" she informed Alistair about the skewer and about Patricio's refusal to stop the banquet. Alistair crossed his arms, drumming his gloved fingers.

"...so a skewer is missing. I don't like that at all"

"Do you think someone is going to try to kill?"

"If someone dies I'm blaming Patricio for not stopping the banquet" he uncrossed his arms "But if the killer attacks with a skewer, then they must have known about what happened to the last group!"

"You mean someone read that file too? But you had the key card!"

Alistair shrunk a bit. "I...I lost the key card. Sorry"

"You lost that too?" _Is there anything you haven't lost yet?!_ She really was starting to lose her patience with everyone.

"Hey, this is a virtual world! If I lost it then all the admins need to do is create it again. Maybe they could even warp it from wherever it was!"

"The problem isn't that it was lost, it's that someone may have found it, and if they read the file, and stole the skewer because they want to kill someone following that file—"

Alistair's eyes widened, understanding the implications. "Oh, crumbs"

"We need to stop this. I don't like what's happening here"

The child entertainer looked around. Everyone was already enjoying the event, talking and eating without any worries. The atmosphere was much cheerier than it had been during the day. "...it's too late to stop it. We're going to have to keep an eye on everyone"

Right after Alistair said that, Patricio exited the Kitchen and clapped. "Attention, everyone! The first big dish is going to come out in fifteen minutes! Make sure to have space in your stomachs for it!" Several of the Hostages clapped and celebrated loudly, Kouma and Khotso shouting words of encouragement. Patricio basked in the appreciation, but after that was done his face turned more serious "But now there's something we must talk about" _Good, he's going to talk about it!_ Patricio took off her hat, trying to have an air of authority "...we need a sentry" _What._

"A sentry? For what?" Matthew asked.

"To keep Monobear away, of course. We're all gathered here, it's likely he'll try to sneak in"

"If this is a virtual world he can simply appear in here" Alistair noted, and Patricio acknowledged it with a nod.

"I suppose that's right, but we should do it, just in case"

"What will the sentry do?" Thioro asked with his mouth full, spitting crumbs while talking and making the people around him step further away.

"They'll stay outside, guarding the door, and keep Monobear away – or alert us if they can't do stop him. That's all"

"You really think that bear would enter through the door like a normal person?" Kouma looked at the large windows as if she expected him to burst through them anytime.

"Any volunteers?" Patricio looked around. After a moment where it seemed no one would offer their help, Chrysanthe stepped forward.

"I'll do it. Everyone else can stay here and enjoy the party"

"Banquet, not party, but thank you! Here, I'll give you a few things to munch" Patricio started picking up a few of the pastries and bread he made, giving it all to Chrysanthe. She smiled and went outside, taking a chair with her. Azalea watched her go, uneasy. _Be careful, Chrys_. It was once another similarity to the report of the case she had read, and she didn't like that at all. Azalea hadn't told Patricio about the part regarding the past group having used a sentry too. _I should have told him that!_ Patricio, having settled the matter of the sentry, opened the door of the Kitchen to return inside.

"Thank you for your attention, everyone! Enjoy the food!" but before going in, Patricio turned around, sighing "And...everyone please be careful"

"Guess there's nothing to be done other than keeping our eyes open and hope for the best" Alistair said "Any plans?"

"...I suppose I'll sit and watch over everyone" Azalea looked at the door to the outside "What about you?"

Alistair scratched his nose. "The same than you. Between the two of us we should be able to stop anything that could happen"

"Tell me if you see anything" Azalea grabbed a chair and chose a spot where she'd be able to watch over most of the room, Alistair choosing to watch from the parts Azalea wouldn't be able to watch. Between the two they would be able to keep track of anything that could happen in the room.

-ooooo-

The banquet was going rather well. Everyone was greatly enjoying the food! There were a lot of comments of how good Patricio was, and how he did deserve a SHSL title. Despite the praises she heard, Azalea didn't try a single bite of anything, too focused on staring at everyone she could see. There was a blind spot she couldn't see at, but since Alistair was going to watch from that place, she trusted nothing would happen over there without him seeing.

"Why are you so sullen, Lady Stravopoulos?" Vittoria approached, bringing a rather tasty-looking bun "Are you not enjoying the party?"

"...I'm not into bread" Azalea replied. That was a terrible excuse, but her priority right now wasn't to think excuses. Vittoria looked at her, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Do you mean to say you are on a diet right now? I do not think you need one, Lady Stravopoulos. It is true you may be a bit pudgy-looking, but it may be because of the school cardigan you are wearing"

 _Gee, thanks._ "Uh, Vittoria? I don't think that's the kind of thing you should say to people" the motivator said cordially.

"I apologize. But I mean it, you should try enjoying yourself a bit more"

Azalea rubbed her forehead, sighing. "Vittoria, ever had the feeling something horrible was going to happen?"

"I have that feeling all the time. It comes with commanding a criminal organization. I always fear something horrible will happen to my subordinates"

It took a herculean effort to not to comment about part of that. "What would you do if you had that feeling?"

"Try to stop anything bad from happening, of course. Is there any way I can help you?"

"...just please keep an eye on everyone" Vittoria nodded at that and went away, eating the bun. _I'm going to feel so dumb if nothing happens. It'd be great, but..._ It wasn't that she hoped someone would die, but sitting in a corner, scowling at people like she has been doing wasn't her idea of a good night.

The bread lobster was taken into the Dining Room twenty minutes after the lookout began. Patricio came out of the Kitchen, holding the large tray with the carefully divided lobster. "Here's the first big dish! Enjoy, everyone" he said, depositing it on the table on the other side of the room from where Azalea was sitting. Almost everyone in the room crowded around the bread lobster, taking pieces and lavishly praising it. "I can't believe something shaped as a lobster could taste so good—unlike lobster!" Kouma exclaimed with her mouth full.

"What's this filled with? Is this some kind of special mix?" Elaine poked the filling inside her portion.

"It's so good! I can't just have one" Aleksey took a few portions more, filling his plate.

"Did you make the bread yourself?" Joanna approached Patricio, who made a face like she had just insulted his mother.

"Of course I did! I wouldn't be a good baker if I didn't"

"This is too good! I'm impressed" Kamiya had moved his gas mask upwards to eat, turning his back to most of the Hostages. Azalea was able to see his face, he looked rather plain and unmemorable. _Huh. Nice to see the person behind the mask!_

"Thanks, everyone! And this isn't over yet! If you want something sweet and special, then wait another twenty minutes!" Patricio announced before retreating back into the Kitchen.

-ooooo-

Another twenty minutes passed. The bread lobster was almost gone by now, there were just a couple portions left on the tray. Everyone was starting to settle down and just talk to each other leisurely, making it easier for Azalea to keep observing. Runihura set his camera on the table with the lobster, right aside it. When he noticed Azalea was staring at him, he flashed a thumbs-up and turned on the videocamera and approached her, looking at the videocamera once he got to Azalea's side. "I want to make something to preserve the moment. We won't know if our most recent memories will be erased first"

Azalea averted her eyes. "...that's a bit depressing" _Actually, it's very depressing_. It was kind of nice to see someone taking measures against the memory deletion Monobear had threatened to do, but it was also a reminder of what could happen. Runihura stood around for a few seconds, waiting for Azalea to say something else, but since she didn't he returned to the videocamera, fiddling with it a bit more. He made sure the lens was well placed and stepped aside to return talking with Vittoria. _What are they talking about?_

Runihura and Vittoria seemed rather chummy. Vittoria put her hand on Runihura's shoulder and leaned towards him, whispering in his ear. "Wow, I..." Runihura covered his mouth with his hand before laughing loudly and nodding. Vittoria moved the hair off her face for a moment, smiling, and said something else Azalea couldn't hear. _She's nice, for someone who is in charge of a criminal organization._ Vittoria stood up, going to the kitchen, and returned with what seemed to be a large spoon covered in batter, passing it to Runihura. "No way!" he exclaimed, overjoyed, taking the spoon. Not wanting to keep trying to eavesdrop, Azalea stood up and inched closer to the door, opening it and looking outside.

Chrysanthe was sitting outside, with an empty plate on her lap, staring into the distance. "Chrys?" the gardener turned her head around, cheering up a bit when she saw Azalea.

"Lea! Are you having fun?"

"...not really. I haven't even tried a single piece of bread"

"But we all came here to eat. Why wouldn't you give Patricio's food a try?"

"I'm nervous about...you know...someone dying"

Chrysanthe's expression softened. "Are you afraid someone may have poisoned the food?" _I didn't really consider that_. It was something to keep in mind, at least, but how was she supposed to know if anything was poisoned? And if it was, then who did it? "Lea, don't let this stop you from having fun. You need to live a little. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh, I think you know very well what's the worst that could happen" Azalea looked at her with droopy eyelids.

"Don't worry too much, sis. We'll be okay" Chrysanthe stood up from her chair, stretching "I'm bored...surely there's nothing wrong with me going inside to take a slice of cake" Right in that moment the doors of the Kitchen opened, Patricio coming out with a large four-tier cake. It was so big Azalea couldn't see him from the waist up, his hands holding the tray being the only exception.

"The cake is ready! Everyone come take as much as you want!" he announced, leaving the cake on the table. It wasn't long before everyone in the room except Azalea crowded around the cake, taking the slices Patricio cut from it. Chrysanthe shrugged and joined them, leaving Azalea outside, watching the empty pathway towards the cottages. It was dark, but the cobblestone path was nicely illuminated by several lampposts. It was unlikely Monobear was lurking nearby, waiting for a chance to sneak inside. _It doesn't matter, the kidnappers must be watching from the real world. Monobear is just a way to talk with us, I guess._

"Lea, you have to try the cake!" Chrysanthe came out with three slices, giving one to Azalea "It's amazing!" Azalea took the fork and took a bit of cake, eating it. Her eyes widened, she immediately took another bite _Wow, this is pretty good! That guy does know what he's doing!_ "It's great, right?"

"It's the best cake I have eaten in a long while!"

"Now I see why he wanted to organize this party! Anyone would want to brag if they could make something like this" Chrysanthe sat to continue her sentry duty "Patricio said 'the banquet' will last half an hour more. I can resist half an hour more"

"Have you seen the admins?"

"I think they're in the Petting Zoo. I checked on them earlier, they're standing behind their desk as if nothing was happening" Chrysanthe waved her fork at Azalea "I mean it, Lea, go have fun. You're going to get ulcers if you keep scowling like that"

"Shut up, you" Azalea replied, smiling and cheered up, and went back inside. Everyone in the room was talking about how sweet the cake was – apparently it had several flavors, distributed in tiers. Everyone was having fun, enjoying their company and talking to each other. Even the loners Azalea had gotten used to see alone were mingling. Lucien seemed to be in great spirits, talking to Matthew and Kouma, while Khotso was near the window, pointing through it and showing Joanna and Thioro a few constellations. From where Azalea was standing, she couldn't see Runihura, Alistair and Aleksey, but she supposed they were somewhere in the room.

Khotso, having seen Azalea, waved at her. "Hey! Want to see the stars with us?" Joanna and Thioro turned their heads around, nodding and inviting her to approach. _Sure, why not? Things have gone okay; I can calm down for a while._

-ooooo-

"...it's impossible to see all these constellations at the same time. Being in a virtual world isn't so bad" Khotso was saying.

"If this was the real sky all these stars would attract each other, right? With gravity" Thioro wondered, pressing his face against the glass of the window.

"Not really. There are stars with less gravitational pull than you'd expect. It's true there are some constellations that wouldn't exist, but many would stay intact"

"Is that Sagittarius over there?" Joanna adjusted her glasses, trying to look far away. "The constellations are mixing together; I can't differentiate one from the other"

"I have a map here, take a look" Khotso took out a large piece of dark blue paper from his pocket, but when he started to extend it over the wall for reference, what Azalea feared would happen started.

One moment she was trying to see the white dots and lines in Khotso's map, the next moment she could see nothing but black. _What the...?!_

"Did someone turn off the light?"

It was a voice Azalea didn't really recognize. As soon as someone said that, a lot of other voices mixed together, making it impossible to recognize who was saying what. "Someone look for the light switch!"

"There's no light switch in this room!"

"Then it wasn't an accident? Is this a blackout?"

"Of course it's a blackout!"

"I can't see a thing!" the noise of someone hitting the table resounded, followed by the sound of something splatting on the ground "Ouch!"

"Careful with the food!"

"I can't see anything! It's not my fault!"

"Fucking idiots"

"Where are the admins?"

The door of the Communal Building opened, everyone heard the creak. "What happened? Why is it dark outside too?" _Chrys?_

"Please don't panic and listen" the unmistakable voice of Stripes shouted over everyone else "It's a blackout. You need to stay calm while we solve the problem"

"Can you turn on the lights?"

"Spots is going to use the breaker box. How else do you think we can fix it?"

Right after Stripes said that, the light came back, but everyone barely had time to start calming down – no more than a few seconds – before the lights turned off again. "What? What now?! "

"Stripes, what's going on here?"

"Don't ask me! I don't know!" Stripes said "I'll go outside to check the breaker box"

"I'll go too. Where's it?"

"Alistair!"

A clinking sound emanated from the vicinity of the door to the outside, still open. Everyone turned their heads in that direction, silent for a few seconds, before the bustling continued. "I'm going out!" Stripes announced loudly, going outside. "Out of my way, Chrysanthe!"

"Sorry!" Chrysanthe's voice sounded from outside. After a minute or so more of confusion, the lights turned back on. Azalea blinked, seeing colorful spots in her eyes, before she was able to see without problems. A bit disoriented, she grabbed the back of her chair, trying to regain her equilibrium.

"Is everyone okay?" Kamiya asked, holding onto the table near the remains of the cake. What was left of it had fallen to the floor, stomped and ruined.

"I think...I think so. No one seems to be wounded" Azalea looked around, counting everyone. _One, two, three, four_...there were twelve people in total. "Who isn't here?"

"Let's see..." Vittoria counted people too "Patricio, Alistair, Chrysanthe and Joanna aren't here"

"I'm here" Patricio exited the Kitchen just in time to hear Vittoria say that "What happened with the lights?"

"Chrysanthe is still outside – she was always outside. I think Alistair and Joanna went outside to – you know—fix this? They did?" Kouma tried to look through one of the windows but she wasn't able to see anyone.

"But what if they're not outside? What if Joanna or Alistair is..." Azalea couldn't even finish the sentence. She gulped, feeling her throat very dry, and looked around the Dining Room. There was only one table with a tablecloth, the one with the cake, and right in front of it, most of the cake laid splattered on the floor. Someone getting underneath and maybe dying would make the cake fall down, wouldn't it? Then... "C-Could someone look under that table?"

"Under the table? Why?" Lucien inquired.

"Just do it! I don't think I can look there myself..." _If Alistair or Joanna are dead in there I don't know what I'll do.._." Kamiya looked at her in a way Azalea interpreted as concern – it was hard to know with that gas mask over his face – and in a swift move he moved the tablecloth up. Azalea gasped when he moved the tablecloth, covering her mouth with her hands, and stepped back.

There was nothing under the table. "There's no one there" Aleksey said the obvious, crouching and taking a closer look. "There's _nothing_ here!" Most people turned their heads around to look at Azalea, waiting for an explanation.

"I-I thought someone could be dead in there..." Azalea admitted, clutching her arms.

"Kouma told you they must have gone outside to check the breaker box. You're worrying too much, Azalea. Some people here like to be proactive" Dalia said.

"Azalea is plenty proactive, don't say such harsh things" Chrysanthe, who had just joined the group, said to Dalia, who raised her hands in defense.

"I didn't mean to insult her! I was just saying—"

"Guys, it's enough. I...I lost my composure for a moment, that's all" Azalea took a deep breath. Everyone was looking at her. _I must have sounded like a nutcase._ She walked to Patricio, who was looking at the happenings with nervousness. "We should disband for tonight"

"Right...let's do that" Patricio raised his voice "The banquet is over! Everyone go sleep!" No one needed to be told twice. Chrysanthe opened the door more, allowing everyone to start leaving

Thioro approached the baker before walking outside. "Thanks for the food, Patricio. You're a great baker" he said, opening the door. Soon almost everyone was gone, only Matthew and Runihura were left behind. Runihura picked up the videocamera, turning it off and covering the lens.

"Are you okay, Azalea? You were pretty shaken up back then" Matthew inquired, frowning. Azalea waved a hand, trying to make her behavior from before look less alarming.

"Sorry. I have been having this feeling something horrible is about to happen, and I...I think I may have freaked out" Better to use that excuse than tell him about the past group's case.

"Well whatever it was it's over now. Nothing happened!" Runihura did a thumbs up "Thanks for your worry but we were all okay!"

Right in that moment they heard a scream. It sounded very low, from far, far away. The three froze, listening. The scream stopped. "What was that?" Matthew murmured

"A scream, obviously!" Runihura clipped the videocamera to its long belt, ready to carry it "I shouldn't have said that. I jinxed it!"

"I think it came from the cottages!" Azalea hurried to go out, Matthew and Runihura right behind her. When they got outside they heard noise coming from the plaza with the Monobears, on the other side of the section with the cottages. "What's going on here?!" Azalea found a crowd around the statues, so she carefully started pushing people aside until she was able to see what was going on. As soon as she saw it, she felt like her stomach had fell to her feet, she could only stare and murmur "No...no..."

"I'm sorry, Azalea" Kamiya murmured.

"We should have been more vigilant. If we had paid more attention this wouldn't have happened!" Joanna clutched her violin. Patricio was right by her side, pale and silent. Everyone was staring at the dead body.

 **Alistair Sullivan is dead.**

Alistair Sullivan was there, hanging from a noose made from his own red scarf. The scarf was tied to the paw of the Monobear with the extended paw, pointing at the train station. There was a look of horror and despair in Alistair's face, and his gloved hands were stained with blood. Some of the blood had gotten on his chest, apparently coming from his neck behind the scarf, although there wasn't much blood. Azalea covered her mouth with her hands, speechless. _No...why...how..._

 _...how did we let this happen?!_

 **CHAPTER 1: SUBVERTING HISTORY – ABNORMAL DAYS**

 **START**


	6. Chapter 1: Subverting History IV

_A body has been found! After a short time, the trial will start! Make use of this time as best as you can!_

Azalea ignored the announcement and looked away from Alistair's body, struggling to not to cry. Her shoulders were shaking, she took a few deep breaths, trying very hard not to break down in hysterics. She felt as if she had failed Alistair, like she had been responsible for his death by not being attentive enough. Azalea walked to the side of the plaza, leaning against the stone fence that stopped anyone from falling into the emptiness of the sky. _I should have done more...how could I be so stupid?!_ She slid down to the grass, trying to dry her tears, but more kept coming until she just sat there, crying her eyes out. _Alistair, why?! This wasn't supposed to happen!_

She wasn't the only one who felt like crying. Chrysanthe and Khotso broke down crying as well, while Vittoria and Joanna stood around awkwardly, staring at the body with impassive expression. "Fucking damn it!" Dalia shouted, trying to approach Alistair, but was stopped by Thioro.

"Don't touch him yet"

Lucien and Kamiya stared at the body without a word before looking away. "When did this happen?!" Patricio murmured, unable to look away.

"It must have been during the blackout. There's no other time it could have happened" Matthew said gravely, putting his hand on Patricio's shoulder "Come over here, leader, you look like you're about to throw up"

"Good idea – let me help" Kouma and Runihura started directing away those who looked very upset, clearing the grass around the Monobear statues.

"This is stupid! Did someone kill because of the motive? Why would anyone do that?!" Aleksey shouted, walking away. Elaine, having been the closest person to him at the time, followed the thief.

"The moment someone capable of killing believed that motive was the moment the victim's fate was sealed"

"This isn't the time to be poetic!"

"On the contrary! This is the perfect time for poetics!" Everyone turned to the source of the voice. Monobear was sitting on the base of the statues, as if he had been there from the beginning, observing the fifteen Hostages wallow in confusion and horror. The bear raised a paw towards Alistair, miming as if he had the victim's head on his paw. "Alas, poor Sullivan-san. I knew him, guys, a fellow of infinite stupidity, of most excellent uselessness" he paused "...I don't know any more lines"

"Shut up! This is your fault!" Kouma yelled from just beyond the plaza "If it hadn't been for you kidnapping us, he wouldn't be dead!"

"Save your breath. Shouting at him will solve nothing" Aleksey told her, making Kouma pull from her short hair in frustration.

"He's right! Shouting won't lead you anywhere! And since I know you guys would spend the next hour crying and yelling to the sky as if it crapped on you unless I did something, I'll lend you all a paw" behind him several small electronic tablets appeared out of thin air, which he proceeded to take "Here's the Monobear File! The first step in any proper investigation!"

"...the what?" Kamiya slowly approached, receiving one of the tablets. Monobear started walking around, distributing the tablets.

"Since the only detective you have around is nowhere near the level of a true SHSL Detective I have decided to give you some free information. It's an autopsy report! The most basic stuff, so take a good look!" At that point Azalea zoned out, focusing on one single thought: there was a trial to come. They'd have to find the culprit. They'd all have to investigate and find out who killed Alistair. _How are we supposed to do that?! I...I don't know..._ her mind went blank, astonished, horrified. It took her a moment to realize Monobear was standing right beside her, looking at her despair in silence. He seemed almost...hesitant to bother her.

"What?" she spat. Monobear wordlessly tried to give her a tablet. "What do you...?" The bear looked at the rest, noticing several were looking at him, so after a pause he threw the tablet at Azalea, hitting her on the head. "Ouch!"

"Bears don't coddle anyone. If you don't snap out of it, you'll be executed before the morning arrives!" Monobear waved at the rest of the Hostages "You have one hour to investigate. Good luck, everyone! Do your beee-eeest!" he then disappeared as if he had never been there. Azalea stared at the spot where Monobear had been standing, mouth half-open, and exhaled. This was one of the worst nights she had ever lived – as far as she remembered – and there was a chance it was going to get even worse.

"May as well get this started" Azalea murmured, turning on the tablet and looking at the Monobear File. Right underneath a black and white photo of Alistair with the word 'DEAD' plastered all across his torso, there was the basic information about his death.

 **Monobear File #1**

 _Victim: Alistair Sullivan_

 _Cause of Death: A stab to the throat with a thin instrument_

 _Location of the Body: Monobear Plaza_

"This is all? What a rip-off!" Azalea put the tablet away, annoyed. What was so great about that file? It didn't even list the time of death! Well, maybe no one would have deduced Alistair had been stabbed – that possibility hadn't crossed her mind when she found him – but the Monobear File had been less useful than it should have been. Once she felt better, Azalea stood up and approached the statues.

Most of the Hostages had left already, going to investigate away, but there were a few sticking around the body. Dalia crossed her arms, looking at Alistair with pity. "We can't leave this guy hanging here...let's get him down"

"Should we really do that? It could damage the evidence" Matthew inquired, reading the Monobear file.

"It's not a matter of damaging anything! It's a matter of respect" Dalia grabbed Alistair from the sides, softly moving him from side to side "That damn scarf is holding him in place! Whoever hung him up here tied that knot very tightly.

"Let me help" Thioro approached the base of the statues and started climbing, getting to the top Monobear's arm and crawling on it until he was right beside the scarf. No one could see what he was doing "Dalia, be ready!" Thioro warned, doing something up there. Dalia obeyed, grabbing Alistair. Seconds later a soft snap sounded. The scarf over the stone arm parted in two, and, not having anything supporting the body in there, the corpse fell onto Dalia's strong hands.

"Got him!"

"Leave him on the floor. We should check what the file said" once Alistair's body was left in the ground, Thioro got off the statue and crouched beside Alistair's head "He was stabbed on the throat, right? So let's see..." the detective moved the scarf off, revealing Alistair's bloodied neck. The blood on it seemed smudged, most likely due to the scarf. Azalea covered her mouth with her hands, unable to take her eyes off the single hole right in middle of Alistair's neck.

"Oh god..." Matthew mumbled, shuddering.

"...okay, there's no doubt the file was right about the cause of death" Thioro put his finger right to the side of the hole "Alistair was killed with an object of like...five millimeters wide? Eight? It was at most one centimeter, that's for sure"

"Could it have been a skewer?" Azalea asked, taking her hands off her face.

"Sure, why not?"

"Why did you immediately think of a skewer?" Dalia asked, approaching her. Azalea looked away, a tad nervous about everything.

"Patricio told me there was a skewer missing. The killer could have used it to kill Alistair"

"That may be what happened. I can't say for sure, but it could be possible.

 **Mortal Wound**

 _Alistair was stabbed with an object with a maximum diameter of one centimeter._

"Why is he so dirty?" Dalia asked, scratching with her nail the side of the corpse, Azalea now noticing there was something brown and wet staining the sides of Alistair's torso. The tip of Dalia's finger ended covered in a brown "He has a lot of mud over here!"

"I see mud on this side too. What about his back?" Matthew said, but Thioro waved his hand dismissively.

"It's just mud, he has a lot of it everywhere. Unless the culprit is dirty too, it doesn't change much"

 **Mud on the Body**

 _Alistair had many mud stains all over his body. It's all fresh. His scarf is completely devoid of any mud._

"Okay, I'm done with the wound, so now let's see..." Thioro carefully removed one of Alistair's gloves, grabbing it with the tip of his fingers and extending it to take a better look. "All this blood...could it be from the culprit?"

"I saw no one bleeding" Matthew said.

"If the killer had been injured we'd all have noticed. Look at all that blood!" Azalea added, forcing Thioro to smile sheepishly.

"I see, I see! So this is his blood. Hmmmm..." Thioro turned the glove around "There's only blood on the palms. Alistair must have pressed his hands against the wound, and that's how these stains happened. Any objections?" _That sounds correct..._

 **Alistair's Gloves**

 _The palms of Alistair's gloves were very stained with blood._

While Thioro looked inside the gloves Dalia narrowed her eyes, cautiously taking Alistair's wrist and raising the victim's hand. "Guys, do you see what I see here?" she pointed to the center of the wrist.

"I don't see anything" Azalea said. Matthew opened his mouth to say the same thing, but then closed his mouth and extended the lens over his eye, looking at the wrist.

"She's right...there's something here. It looks like an injection wound?" Matthew almost put the tip of the lens directly on Alistair's wrist "It looks recent"

"I don't see any holes here" Thioro looked at the place the glove would be in contact with Alistair's wrist "He didn't have his glove on when he got injected"

"Do you think it's related to—?"

"It could mean anything. We can't know if it's the culprit's work or if it's related to something we don't know about Alistair" Thioro put the glove back on Alistair's hand "Let's not jump to conclusions, okay?"

 **Injection Wound**

 _Alistair's wrist has a tiny round hole, possibly done when he got injected with something._

"I think we're done here. We can't stick around the body forever, there must be evidence in other places. Let's get going" Thioro cracked his knuckles, looking in direction to the Communal Building, but before they could all leave Matthew shouted in surprise, having looked at Alistair with the lens.

"Wait, guys! There's something else here" Matthew got on his knees, taking a good look at the mortal wound on Alistair's neck "I see something...these look like fibers!"

"Fibers? What color is it?" Azalea could see nothing, the blood obscuring any fibers she could have been without Matthew's lens.

"The sticky blood must have collected fibers from his scarf...yes, that's it" Thioro scratched his chin "Am I right?"

"I think you are? But there aren't just red fibers here" Matthew said, trying to pick up one of the fibers and failing, only getting his fingertips stained with blood "I see _blue_ fibers too"

"His suit is blue"

"I think his suit is made of latex" Dalia said. Matthew gave up on attempting to pick up a fiber, sighing and trying to clean his fingertips on the cobblestones.

"I'm not sure how important this'll be but..." he shrugged.

 **Blue Fibers**

 _There are many tiny short blue fibers on Alistair's neck, mixed along his blood._

"I think that's all we're going to find here. Come on, let's check the dining hall"

"Do you think he was killed there?"

Thioro hummed, looking towards the building. "I can't say it for sure, but where else could he have died? Here near the statues? No, I'm sure it was in that building..." Thioro, Matthew and Dalia walked away in direction of the Communal Building, leaving Azalea behind.

It was hard to believe Alistair was dead. Just an hour ago she had been talking to him, seeing him cram pastries in his mouth...she would have never guessed later she'd find him strung from the scarf on the Monobear statues. She shook her head sadly, drying off her tears. This was no time for crying, there was work to do. "I'm sorry this happened, Alistair...I'll find the killer, I promise you I will" she muttered, looking away from his corpse. She bowed as a farewell to someone she had grown to like, and started to walk away.

When she got onto the path to the cottages and Communal Building, she felt there was something sticking to her shoe. She raised her foot, unsure of what she'd find, and found a piece of Alistair's red scarf stuck there. "Agh!" she groaned, peeling it off and throwing the piece away, but now that she thought about it...didn't Alistair say he had lost his scarf? Had he found it at some point? Why did the killer hang the body from the scarf onto that statue? There was something odd about that all, and she wasn't sure what exactly it was.

 **Scarf**

 _Alistair claimed to have lost his scarf some time after talking to Patricio. The scarf was used to hang Alistair from the Monobear statues, for some unknown reason._

Having made a mental note about it, Azalea arrived to the Communal Building, but didn't enter immediately. The blackout could have been caused by someone tampering with the breaker box! And if that happened, it was possible there'd be signs of tampering on it. It was worth checking. Azalea went to the side of the building, looking for the breaker box. There it was! At first glance it didn't seem like it had anything wrong on the outside. Azalea opened it, taking a look inside. There was absolutely nothing. No strange additions, no signs of tampering...had the culprit simply gone outside and pulled the breakers down? It couldn't be that simple, right?

There were several windows on this wall of the building, most of them Dining Hall windows the box was between one of the rather tall windows that decorated the Dining Hall, and a window from the Kitchen. Azalea tried to open any of the windows, but none of them worked. They were all closed from the inside.

It seemed that most of the illumination could be disabled by pulling from a lever on the side of the box. Just to test how much it affected, Azalea pulled the lever down, the results happening immediately. Everything turned very dark, both inside _and_ outside the building. Azalea stepped back to try to see where was the closest light. The lampposts in the cottage area, a few hundred feet away, was the closest illuminated place.

 **Breaker Box**

 _The breaker box is located on the left outside wall of the Communal Building. It shows no signs of tampering. It controls all the lights from inside and outside the Communal Building._

Satisfied with the result, Azalea pulled the lever back to its original position, but when she took her hand off the lever she found out there was something sticky. Whatever it was, only residues were left, not enough to really know what it was. "What's this...?"

"Okay, what's the big idea?!" a voice yelled to her right. Azalea turned around, seeing Elaine approaching with a large piece of paper "Azalea! You! You're the one who turned off the lights just now?'"

"Uh, yeah? Sorry, I was just testing this" Azalea absent-mindedly wiped her hand on her cardigan "Did I interrupt something?"

"Damn right you did" Elaine showed the piece of paper "I was in middle of drawing a map of the building and its surroundings"

 _That could be useful!_ "Can I take a look?"

Elaine frowned. "Wait until I'm done, okay? I just need to jot down where this breaker box is and..." a few seconds later she turned the map around, showing it to Azalea "Here it is! Pretty good, right?"

It was a rather nice effort, that was for sure. Azalea pointed to a few ellipses near the road shown in the map. "These are...the lampposts, right?"

"Correct. These type of maps need to have every detail jotted down" Elaine said. Azalea stared at her for a moment before talking.

"You sure seem excited about this all. You know someone _died_ , right?" the thought of someone not taking Alistair's death with the seriousness it warranted made her want to grind her teeth to dust. Elaine pushed her glasses up her nose, looking at Azalea with some disdain.

"I know Alistair died. It's sad, yes, but I didn't know him that well" Azalea must have made a scary face because Elaine hurried to add more "And even if I had known more, this isn't the time to wallow in self-pity. We all need to work and find the culprit" Elaine smirked "I'm glad you're focused and willing to try your best. Mind if I tail you around? There could be more stuff I need to add to the map"

"You don't suspect I could have done it?"

"I don't think you would have killed anyone even if you could have. You don't have the guts to kill people" Elaine said with natural tone, as if she had said something completely obvious to anyone. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I'm the smart sibling, the one who can read people like open books. Matthew is the brawn, I'm the brain, although – and don't tell him I said this..." she leaned forward "Matthew is pretty smart on his own too. He can be brilliant when he wants to be"

"...riiiight, okay...how did you think of making that map?"

Elaine shrugged "I thought it'd be the kind of thing a detective would do. Azalea, a good drama story had a dash of mystery, and all mysteries need drama. It's a symbiotic relationship, and as a drama writer I'm going to take this opportunity and take advantage of it the most I can" She was saying all that as if this was some kind of play and not a real, tangible death. Azalea shook her head, giving up on trying to get her to realize this wasn't something to have fun with, and decided to go around the building, trying to find anything unusual.

She didn't have to go for long. Right around the corner she stumbled upon something that shouldn't be there: a wheelbarrow, caked with mud both inside and outside. Judging by the slight lemon smell, this was the same wheelbarrow Kamiya had spilled that flower preserver on. "Did you already draw this in your map, Elaine?"

"I'm on it" she said, drawing the outline of the wheelbarrow "Should this thing be there?"

"No, it should be in the Garden...why would the wheelbarrow be here?" Azalea experimentally put her hands on the handles, trying to see if she could move it, but she took her hands off it immediately. There was it again, the same sticky residue. _Is this...?_ Azalea tried to smell her hands, but it was too faint to find out anything useful "Don't do that, it's gross"

"Elaine, do you smell lemons?" Azalea pointed at the wheelbarrow.

"There's a curious citrus smell, now that you mention it. Is that normal?"

"No, it's not normal" _So that preserver is still fresh._

 **Wheelbarrow**

 _A common large wheelbarrow, stained everywhere with mud. Found behind the Communal Building. Kamiya accidentally sprinkled lemon-scented flower preserver over it the night before the murder._

There was nothing else behind the Communal Building. The last place to check was the Garden to the right side of the building. Elaine and Azalea got there, looking around to see if there was anything that could be of use, but there were two other people in the Garden already.

Chrysanthe and Spots were talking and commiserating about the situation. The gardener was examining the back of Spots' head, talking soothingly. "It's not so bad, there isn't even a mark"

"I don't even know who hit me! I did nothing to deserve it!"

"Sometimes people are jerks for no reason, don't worry about it"

"What happened?" Azalea approached, leaning on the fence of the garden while Elaine looked around the Garden for anything important. Chrysanthe patted Spots' head.

"This poor NPC tried to help but all she got in exchange was a blow to the head"

"What does she mean, Spots?"

"I...I left the Communal Building to fix the breakers box. I can see well in the dark – virtual administrator privileges – but when I lifted the lever someone hit me in the head!"

"And you saw no one at first?"

"I saw nobody...but I didn't look that hard either..." Spots admitted "After I got my paws dirty all I got was being hit to the head"

"Sorry to hear that" Azalea said without much sincerity, but Elaine intervened.

"When you say you got your paws dirty you mean it literally?"

"Y-Yes...the lever was covered with a slimy film" Spots extended her hands "It was nasty!"

"Wait, let me see..." Azalea grabbed Spots' wrist, looking at her paw. Yes, there was a shiny film on it, still fresh, and there was no mistake. The smell showed it. "Chrys, don't touch her paws. This is that preserver" Chrysanthe put her hands behind her back, even stepping away from Spots "Are you completely sure this was on the lever?"

"Yes...but I removed it all when I pulled the lever down" Spots managed to get her paws off Azalea's hands "D-Does it matter?" Maybe it does.

 **Spots' Testimony**

 _The lever of the breaker box was covered in flower preserver. Spots was attacked when she tried to undo the blackout._

"Wait, something doesn't fit here" Elaine waved her pen at Chrysanthe "You. How's it possible you saw no one coming out of the Communal Building? Weren't you the sentry?"

"It's the truth, no one came out! The killer must have been outside all the time!" Chrysanthe said

"But everyone else was inside. In fact, now that we're talking about this, how did _Alistair_ get outside? He was in the building too"

"I don't know! ...no, wait!" Chrysanthe hit her palm with her fist "The windows! The culprit and Alistair may have left through the windows"

"I don't think so. I checked all the windows in the building, and they all can only be opened from the inside, and I can say with certainty none of the windows were opened during the party"

 **Chrysanthe's Testimony**

 _No one left the Communal Building at any time, from the start of the party to the moment of the blackout._

"Don't worry, Chrys. I'm sure you're telling the truth" it wasn't a very subtle warning towards Elaine, warning she understood. Elaine shrugged and continued with her map, while Azalea moved to continue investigating. Checking the inside of the building seemed like the best thing to do now, so she stepped aside, but before she could go too far, she saw something in the corner of her eyes. _Huh?_ There was something in the mud of the Garden. Azalea approached to take a closer look.

There were tracks in the mud, three lines that vanished into the grass outside the Garden. "Elaine, can you note this into the map?"

"Sure thing" Elaine accepted.

 **Tracks in the Mud**

 _There are three tracks in the mud of the Garden, leading in direction of the back of the Communal Building_

There seemed to be nothing else that seemed outright wrong, but just in case...it'd be good to have someone checking around out there. "Chrys, keep looking out here. We need all the evidence we can find"

Chrysanthe clutched her flower pendant. "I don't know, Lea...I'm not a detective, I don't think I can do much"

"You can do it, sister" Azalea entered the Garden shed, taking out a pair of thick gloves. Holding them, she returned with Chrysanthe "You just need to believe in yourself like I believe in you"

"...I can't do it. Just leave me alone, Lea. I'll be fine" she said, looking at the ground. A tad frustrated at how Chrysanthe refused to believe she'd be able to do anything, Azalea scowled.

"At least do it to stick it to the killer. The culprit murdered someone, and it's either them or us. If we don't catch the culprit we're all going to die. Is that what you want?"

"Um..."

"Chrysanthe, I love you and you're the best sister anyone could have, but I'm not going to coddle you. We have to find the killer. We're going to catch that _fucker_ and get them executed" Azalea raised her eyebrows, giving a cold look to Chrysanthe "Do I need to say anything else?"

Chrysanthe said nothing, inexpressive. After a moment she nodded slowly, looking up from the ground. Her face had the same coldly determined stare Azalea had given her. "You're right. It's either them or the rest of us" Azalea smiled, closing her eyes with a pleasant smile.

"Thanks, Chrys. I'll be inside if you need me! Put on those gloves. It seems there's some flower preserver spread around"

"I'll do my best over here!" Chrysanthe put on the gloves, fired up, and waved while she went to the back of the Communal Building. Spots and Elaine, having seen everything, shuffled around awkwardly.

"W-Well, I should get prepared for the trial. Stripes and I are going to be the bailiffs" Spots said before scurrying away. Elaine clutched the map she was making, looking at Azalea with attention.

"Those weren't the kind of things I expected someone like you to say"

"...I sounded like a monster" Azalea scratched her head "But sometimes it's necessary, right? I...I'm supposed to be the Motivator around here. If I can't cheer up my own sister than what can I do?"

"But that was an interesting choice of words"

"It's true, if we don't find the killer we'll all die. I didn't say anything false, Elaine"

Elaine opened the door to the Dining Hall. "The way you said it wasn't the best. That's what I'm trying to say" once said that Elaine didn't seem willing to continue talking about the matter, focusing on the case at hand.

Aleksey was in the Dining Hall, walking around and examining the windows without finding anything useful, judging by his face. "Hey, Aleksey! What are you doing?" Azalea called when she entered. The thief pulled from the window, opening it. There was a lot of noise when he did so.

"I was trying to see if someone could have opened a window during the blackout, but it's too noisy. That can't be what happened"

"It was dark but I think we'd have noticed if someone opened a window" Elaine voiced, but Aleksey didn't seem that convinced.

"We weren't behaving calmly at all! I was there, I heard everyone running around like chickens"

"It was a strange blackout. I can't blame us" Azalea checked the window by herself with Aleksey standing to her side.

"Okay, fine. You're right about that" Aleksey crossed his arms "It happened so suddenly I bit my tongue. It caught me in middle of eating"

"You didn't steal anything during the blackout, did you?" Elaine asked slowly, eyeing him with suspicion. Aleksey raised his hands in defense.

"What do you think I am? Some kind of vulture that preys on the innocent in moments like those?" Elaine raised her eyebrows, giving her response without outright saying it: 'Do you really want me to say it?' "I didn't. Look, it doesn't matter"

"It's strange there were two blackouts, though. Why would the killer need two blackouts?"

"It was more like the killer didn't want the blackout to end so soon" Azalea said.

"Then the killer was outside when the light returned after a moment?" Aleksey asked.

"It's likely, but we can't know for sure who was in here when the light returned"

"We do know Alistair was here!" Aleksey touted "Someone said his name. He must have stepped on someone's feet or something during the blackout, and that was after the lights returned for a moment" So Alistair may have been alive during the second blackout?

 **Blackout**

 _The lights turned off some time after the big cake was presented. The lights returned momentarily after a while, but blacked out after just a few seconds. Someone shouted Alistair's name during the second blackout._

The thief stuck his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. "I'm out. I won't find anything else in here" Aleksey said before leaving, letting Azalea and Elaine do whatever they wanted. The drama novelist adjusted her glasses, smirking a bit.

"Let's start. Isn't it exciting, Azalea? We're doing what people like Thioro do! We're investigating for reals!"

"...it's not something I'd like to do often" Azalea said hesitantly, grabbing her head with one hand. _But we have to do it. Let's see what we can find._.. "Want to take that side of the room?"

"Fine with me" Elaine immediately went to the west side of the Dining Hall, where the table with the cake was. Since Elaine was going to work on that side, Azalea decided to get going with her side of the room, starting with the tables.

Empty plates littered the top of the tables. Stomped baked goods and crumbs covered the ground, most likely spilled during the blackout. The remains of the bread lobster were still there, untouched and destined to be thrown away. There was no way anyone would want to eat it now. Azalea prodded the filling with a finger, a bit morose. "The party was nice while it lasted"

"What do you know. I saw you sitting in a corner without trying to eat anything" Elaine's caustic reply made Azalea wince.

"I was worried about someone dying, you can't blame me for...not...eating anything..." Azalea trailed off, having noticed something on the bread lobster. She leaned forward, taking a closer look at the strange stain on the crust. It was one single drop of blood, on the side of the dish facing the wall. _Does this mean_ _Alistair was killed near this lobster?_

 **Bread Lobster**

 _The first dish Patricio presented at the party, twenty minutes after he talked with Azalea. There's a drop of blood on the right side of the crust. This object is on the same side than the Petting Zoo door._

It was something out of place, therefore it was worth remembering. Azalea examined the floor and the tablecloths, looking for more blood, but everything else was spotless besides the crumbs and remains of the baked goods. "Elaine, did you see the body with attention?" Better to ask for an opinion regarding the possibility of blood being spilled in the place Alistair was killed at.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"...nevermind" If she didn't see the body itself maybe she wouldn't know well. Azalea went to where Elaine was, she was writing on her map. "Did you find something?"

"There are some drops of blood here and there" Elaine gestured vaguely over the floor "It's nothing specific, but they're...weirdly shaped"

"What do you mean?"

"Most of the drops look like people stepped on them. Guess blood was spilled during the blackout" Elaine tapped her pen against the map "I jotted a couple in here" When Azalea asked if there was anything else, the drama novelist kicked the smushed cake on the floor "This"

"Oh, right, the cake"

 **Cake**

 _The second dish Patricio presented at the party, twenty minutes after the bread lobster. After the blackout was over, it was found crushed and smeared against the floor. It's on the same side than the Kitchen door._

"When did it fall down?"

"I don't know. I didn't pay attention to the cake, Azalea"

Maybe it didn't matter. Azalea looked at the doors to the Kitchen and the Petting Zoo. "I think those two are the last places to check. Where do you want to go first?"

Elaine didn't answer directly, instead going to the door of the Kitchen and opening it, taking a look inside. "I see nothing useful in here. The windows are closed, the place is a mess, and overall it looks like it should look" Wanting to see it by herself, Azalea approached, looking over Elaine's shoulder.

Indeed, it was like Elaine had said. Nothing seemed suspicious. No, wait, there was something... "What's that?"

"Those are pots and pans. They're for cooking, Azalea, one puts ingredients on them and—"

"Elaine, I don't mean to sound rude, but...I don't think this is the time to be a smartass" Azalea said softly, entering to take a better look. There were a lot of pots and pans piled up on the floor near the biggest cabinet, but other than that it didn't seem too strange. "It's strange Patrick would bake while having this mess here"

"It doesn't mean _he_ put this all here. It could have been anyone" Elaine didn't sound very interested in those objects "Someone could have entered after we left and leave those behind while investigating"

"Someone like the killer?"

"...yes, someone like the killer" Elaine made a face as if she had sucked a lemon "We can't really know"

 **Pots and Pans**

 _Someone left a pile of pots and pans in the Kitchen. It's unknown when it was put there._

"I think we're done here, Azalea. I see nothing else we should look at" she was right about that. The Kitchen seemed pretty normal. Before going out Azalea decided to take the box of skewers and make note of it, intending to tell Elaine that it could have been the weapon that killed Alistair, but when she opened the drawer that had the box she found out something she hadn't expected. _Th-They're gone! The skewers...!_ There were no skewers left at all. All five were missing, the compartments ominously empty. Feeling like she had a rather large cube of ice in her chest, Azalea closed the drawer, pretending not to have seen that _. That can't be good at all._

When she exited the Kitchen and started going with Elaine to the Petting Zoo, the doors of the Communal Building opened, a rather large man entering with his camera in tow. "Oh. Hey there, girls. How's it going?" Runihura asked awkwardly, moving the camera so the belt wasn't digging so badly on his shoulder.

"We're still investigating. Have you found anything?" Azalea replied, approaching.

"Nah, not yet. I'm no investigator. I'd rather sit back and let things happen, but...that's not really an option here, eh?" Runihura fretted nervously "This sucks, why did someone have to kill?!"

"If you have time to mope then you have time to help us" Elaine muttered, narrowing her eyes "Did you see anything, at any point?"

"No...I saw nothing" the videographer seemed rather ashamed for having nothing to offer, but then something crossed his mind. His eyes widened, and he raised his videocamera "Wait, I have this! Maybe I recorded something!"

"When did you...oh!" _That's right!_ Runihura had turned the camera on at one point during the party! "Runihura, it could be important! Can you take a look?" Azalea asked, Runihura nodding.

"I'll start checking! It's not like my camera has night vision, but there could be something at some other point" Runihura started walking to a chair, but his foot stepped on something. "H-Hey! My camer—" he fell heavily on his side, barely managing to save his videocamera. Azalea hurried to his side while Elaine looked at the floor, trying to find what Runihura stepped on.

"Are you okay?" Azalea extended a hand, trying to help Runihura stand up.

"I'm fine. I think I fell on my key, crap..." he sobbed, standing up without grabbing Azalea's hand "My camera is okay, too"

"Guys. You have to take a look at this" Elaine said, suddenly alarmed and jumping back. Azalea and Runihura looked at what Elaine was pointing at. It was a long and cylindrical sharp object, one that made Azalea go pale.

"A skewer!" _There's one!_ She crouched to take a better look. The skewer was covered in blood, way more than Azalea thought it'd be, all the way to the hilt "It must be what killed Alistair"

"He was killed with that?!" Runihura held his hand against his mouth "I'm going to be sick..."

"Stay calm" Elaine commanded, placing her map on a nearby table "Where did you slip on it, exactly?"

"I think it was...around that area?" the area Runihura was pointing at was near the entrance door, on the side of the room that held the cake and the Kitchen door "I'm not sure _" I don't like how that sounded._ It was near the place Azalea had been sitting at most of the time. The motivator grabbed the handle of the skewer, raising the object in the air and letting it fall almost immediately.

"Agh!"

"You didn't poke yourself with the skewer, did you?" Elaine didn't even look up from her map´.

"No! It's strange...the handle of the skewer is all sticky and it's not because of the blood" a bit hesitant, Azalea smelled her fingers. Behind the rank odor of blood from failing to not to touch the blood on the skewer at all there was the distinctive smell of lemons. _No way...more preserver_?

 **Skewer**

 _Found near the entrance door of the Dining Hall, on the side of the room with the cake and the Kitchen Door. The blood reaches the handle. The handle has residues of flower preserver, the same that smells like lemons._

"Alright, this could be the most important piece of evidence. There's no way the weapon itself isn't the key to solve this" Elaine finished marking the place where the skewer was found "Are you completely sure it was right in that place?"

"I told you I'm not sure!" Runihura stared into the screen of his video camera. Judging by his expression, there wasn't really anything useful in the recording. Just in case, Azalea started coming closer to take a look.

"How much did you record?"

"From a few minutes after Patricio brought the lobster, to right before we all left this hall"

"So you have a lot of black in that video during the blackout"

"...not exactly" Runihura turned the video camera around. Indeed, during the blackout it was _mostly_ black, but the starry sky could be seen through the windows. Although outside it was dark, it seemed like it was less dark than inside, so the silhouette of the windows could be clearly seen. People were moving from side to side, they had no way to know who was what silhouette. A towering shape was in middle of what Azalea supposed was a table, erecting right in front of one of the windows.

"We can't know who is who" Runihura said.

"Did it record voices?" Elaine inquired, so the videographer turned the volume to the max. A cacophony of voices and noise sounded from the camera, incoherent and impossible to know who said what. A splatting sound, almost indistinguishable from the rest of the noise, almost went unnoticed. If Elaine hadn't pointed it out Azalea wouldn't have noted it.

"Wait, something is gone from here!" Azalea pointed at the place where the tall shape had been before. It was gone.

"I think that was the cake. See? It's toppled on the floor, that must be when it fell down" Runihura explained. Makes sense. They continued watching the recording, until something moved on the top of the video.

"What was that?" Azalea tried to look closer. Runihura rewinded the video until he stopped at a frame where he saw what Azalea meant.

There was a small and elongated blurry silhouette high in the air, visible in middle of the window. Azalea wasn't sure if it was on the other side of the window or inside the room. "I don't know what it is. It's too blurry and it's moving way too fast" Runihura said, thinking back to the blackout "Did something happen during the blackout?"

"I don't remember...I forgot. It was too dark and there was too much noise" _Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something important?_ "Where was the camera positioned?"

"It was over there" Runihura pointed at the table, to the spot right beside the bread lobster "I didn't move it at all once I put it there.

 **Video of the Blackout**

 _Runihura's videocamera recorded the party from the side of the room with the bread lobster and the Petting Zoo door. During the blackout only silhouettes can be seen. At some point the silhouette of the cake is gone. Later, a long silhouette is seen flying near the top of the frame. It's too blurry to know what it is._

The video ended shortly after the lights returned. Runihura closed the screen of the videocamera, tilting his head. "Was I of any use at all?"

"I think...your video could be useful. It's evidence of something, that's for sure"

"Did you get any ideas from it, Azalea?" Elaine asked, approaching.

"Not really, but we'll need as many clues as possible"

"Speaking of clues, I think I'm done with the map. Take a look" Elaine extended the map on the table, having marked everything. The skewer, the place where Azalea had been sitting, the smudged drops of blood, the cake, the Kitchen door, it all was on the left side of the room. The bread lobster, Runihura's camera, the place where Alistair had been sitting, the Petting Zoo door, it was all on the right side of the room.

 **Map**

 _A map made by Elaine, showing the outside and the inside of the Communal Building. Chrysanthe was sitting outside, right beside the entrance door. The fuse box is on the left wall. The Garden is on the area to the right of the building. The wheelbarrow was found to the back. There are tracks near the Garden in direction of the back of the building._

 _In the inside of the Dining Hall, going clockwise: The skewer is to the left side of the entrance door. The chair where Azalea was at is nearby. The table with the cake is to the left side of the room. The Kitchen Door is on the back. The Petting Zoo door is right to its side. The chair where Alistair was sitting is nearby, in a blind spot Azalea couldn't see. The table with the bread lobster is to the right side of the room. Runihura's camera was placed to its side._

"This is a pretty detailed map!" Azalea praised, taking a better look at the content. Elaine smiled, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Mysteries deserve all the effort one can muster. It's more dramatic that way" _I suppose that's fine..._ What mattered is that they now had a really good map they could rely on. The motivator looked at her wristwatch.

"How long do we have before the trial?"

"It can't be long. It has been almost one hour-" Runihura said, but he couldn't finish his sentence. Azalea had moved immediately, going towards the Petting Zoo "Where are you going?"

"There's one last place I need to check!" she answered without stopping, opening the door and passing through "You don't need to follow me!" Spots and Stripes were behind their desk as if they hadn't moved at all. Azalea ignored them, running to the gates that protected the stairs to the second floor of the building. The case followed way too many events from that file she had read, there was no way it was all a mere coincidence. Maybe she could take the file with her for the trial? It could be useful.

 **A File About a Past Murdergame**

 _The case about Alistair's murder has many similarities with a murder that happened to a past group. The main points are the skewer, the blackout, and the party._

Only when Azalea crashed against the grate when trying to open it, she realized she needed the card key. "Damn it! No!" she ineffectively shook the gates, too much in a hurry to think straight for the first few seconds. _Why did you have to lose the card key, Alistair?!_ It could be anywhere right now!

"Hey. Stop the noise, there are NPCs at work here" Stripes said, not even turning around. Azalea looked beyond the gates for a moment before turning around.

"I need to go upstairs. Please, I beg you, let me in!"

"You can't enter without the card key"

"I know! That's why I'm asking you! It could be vital for the investigation!"

"Will you have time, Azalea? You have a minute and half left before the trial starts" Spots piped up, not sounding concerned in the least bit. Azalea had to use all the self-control she had not to crassly reply to that. Instead she took a deep breath.

"I need to try. I don't know where the card key is, please, let me go upstairs..."

"Here you go" Spots grabbed something from under the desk and tossed it to Azalea, who caught it effortlessly. _Wait, what...?_ "The last person to go up there returned it to us"

"You shouldn't have given it to her. It'd have been a lesson to learn not to be so hotheaded" Stripes mumbled, getting off his seat. "Hurry up. You have less than a minute left"

Azalea didn't need to be told twice. As soon as Stripes finished his sentence, Azalea used the card key and went upstairs, jumping every few steps in an attempt to be quicker. There wasn't time to examine the second floor in detail, and at first glance, it seemed everything was in order. Azalea went straight to the gate that led to the files. She took her key out, inserting it in the indicated place, registering that she had entered there. "Wait, that's it! The registry!" There was no better way to find out who could have found out about that case! Excited, Azalea went to the terminal, but she suddenly stopped when she saw there was something outright wrong with the terminal.

Someone had spilled ink on it, forming a wide black line on it, spread horizontally over the screen. Azalea, having a bad feeling about this, turned on the terminal and look for the registry. It was just like she had thought. There were four names on the list, but the third one was completely obscured by the ink. If she had more time she'd have tried to clean the already dry ink, but that wasn't an option right now.

 **Registry**

 _A registry about who accessed the files about the past group. There are four names:_ Azalea, _Alistair, a third unknown person, and Azalea again. Part of the screen has been covered with ink._

"The killer was here!" Who else would get to the files and erase their name? Right when Azalea was going to go to the shelves and look for the files, the voice she was dreading to hear reverberated through the room.

"Ding-dong! Time is over!" Monobear was sitting on top of one of the bookshelves, looking down to Azalea and holding a microphone in his paws "You all had one hour to investigate and that should be enough. Go to the train station and ride the train for the trial!" he turned off the microphone and looked at Azalea, his eyes shining, menacing. "Don't think of being sneaky, Stravopoulos-san. Time is over" Arguing with Monobear was useless, Azalea knew that. The only thing she could do was hope she remembered enough details. She walked to the stairs, feeling Monobear watching her all the time, and descended to the Dining Hall. Elaine and Runihura had already left. _If I had just one minute more...!_

Did they have enough evidence for the trial? She had no way to know. The truth was that she wasn't sure of who was the culprit. She was no detective; how did anyone expect her to know? If anything she thought she'd be relying on someone like Thioro, he was a professional detective, after all. She'd just provide the evidence and let Thioro do his thing. _There's no reason for me to do anything further than that. I'd mislead everyone...I should leave it to the professionals._

Everyone else was already at the train station. The moment Azalea crossed the gates, the iron gates closed behind her with a rather loud *clank*, startling her. "...I don't like this"

"None of us do" Chrysanthe approached her "I'm sorry, Lea, I didn't find anything. How did your investigation go?"

"I found a few clues...I think" Azalea bit her lip "But I don't know who did it"

"What are we here for? Are we really going to hold the trial in this station?" Runihura was looking around for anything like chairs or podiums, any indication that they all were meant to sit down and start debating. Aleksey, having paid more attention to Monobear's announcement, was near the rails, looking far away into the distance, among the clouds.

"That bear said we must ride the train. There it comes!" Just like Aleksey said, the train they had all woken up in was flying towards them, stopping right in front of the fifteen Hostages. The doors opened, allowing everyone to enter. No one dared to go towards the cabins, instead staying near the doors.

"Where are they taking us? Do they have another—another floating island?" Kouma tried to look through the window "I don't see anything"

"They must have. If people are going to be executed we should be glad it won't be in the resort" Thioro said darkly, playing with his tie "With some luck those executed won't be everyone who is innocent"

"What are you talking about? You do not have any suspects?!" Vittoria exclaimed, approaching the detective. Thioro let go of his tie, stepping back.

"I have a suspect, but we can't all rely on my opinions, right? This is a team effort"

Runihura nodded. "He's right about that. We should be sure who we're voting for instead of simply following what Thioro says"

"I suppose that is correct. I am sorry, Thioro. I am rather stressed"

"We all are" Dalia grabbed Vittoria's arm, moving her towards the back of the wagon "Come on, Vicky, let's try to relax before trial starts"

The wait wasn't long. After around five minutes, the train slowed down until it stopped. The doors of the train opened, showing stairs that led to a nice and shiny white courthouse, floating on the sky without ground underneath it. "Really? The kidnappers just placed this building floating in middle of the abyss and called it a day?" Elaine was holding her map, looking at the endless sky under the building.

"Not everything can be like the resort" Lucien ignored the lack of ground and started ascending the stairs towards the courthouse, leading the way. The doors of the courthouse were already open, showing a room with sixteen podiums and a large screen. Spots and Stripes were already there, standing to the sides of the door.

"Welcome to the courthouse! Here's where the debate will take place!" Spots was saying.

"Go to the podium with your name and get ready. If you need anything tell us and don't bother Monobear" Stripes grumbled.

"What are you two going to do?" Dalia asked while everyone else settled in their podiums.

Spots put her paws on her hips, proud. "We'll be the bailiffs. Our job is to stand here and do nothing"

"Unless you call for our help and Monobear authorizes it. You do what you can" Stripes added.

"We'll be rooting for you!" _This'd be useful, but I don't think Monobear would allow it_. That bear didn't seem like he wanted a fair trial in any sense of the word. Azalea could already picture him denying any request for the bailiffs.

Everyone got onto the podiums assigned to each one, without saying a word. All of them had noticed the black and white picture over Alistair's podium. There was something unnerving about having Alistair staring at them from a picture with a big X right on his face. "We're going to catch the killer, Alistair" Azalea murmured, partly to give herself assurance, and partly as a way to honor Alistair "Have faith on us.

We'll do great"


	7. Chapter 1: Subverting History V

"In case you didn't listen when I told you days ago, the purpose of the trials is to find the culprit of any murder that happens in this place!" Monobear started the trial with his usual spiel "If the majority votes for the blackened, then congratulations! Your stay at the Heavenly Resort will continue for a while longer! But if the majority votes for an innocent person, everyone but the culprit will be executed, and the culprit shall be allowed to leave! Any questions?"

"...yeah, a question: do you know who the killer is?" Khotso asked almost inaudibly.

"Of course I do! Nothing happens in this virtual world without me knowing! Let's start the trial! How about you try to establish the events first? Just a friendly tip"

"He's right, we should talk about what happened and see if we got it straight – just in case" Kouma took out the Monobear file "Alistair – he was killed with a thin weapon. We know what it was?"

"It was a skewer. I was told someone found a bloody skewer somewhere in the Dining Hall" Lucien answered.

Vittoria read the file too, moving her hair away so she could read better. "That matches the wound. Does that mean Alistair was killed in the Dining Hall?"

"If that happened then it must have happened during the blackout – I mean, it was dark. That'd be a perfect chance" Kouma said.

"That's a good place to start! What do you guys think?" Chrysanthe was taking the matter very seriously, although she didn't seem very sure of herself, looking at everyone for approval. It was quickly agreed that discussing that was a good starting point, as it'd help define the most basic facts. _So here's where it starts. Let's give it a try._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Monobear File #1 /Injection Mark / Breakers Box / Blood on the Bread Lobster / Skewer_

* * *

AZALEA: Did anyone hear anything during the blackout?

JOANNA: Everyone was screaming. It was impossible to hear anything specific.

KAMIYA: But someone did shout Alistair's name.

PATRICIO: That could have been **_a recording_**!

RUNIHURA: I don't know, that's convoluted.

RUNIHURA: It was complicated enough that the killer...

RUNIHURA: ... **tampered** with the breakers box.

ALEKSEY: But that could have been **the moment he was killed**

ALEKSEY: Like 'raaah, Alistair, I finally got you, you fucker!'

DALIA: The killer murdered Alistair and then...

DALIA: ... **threw the skewer away** while it was dark. That makes sense to me.

* * *

It was Azalea's first time in anything resembling a debate about someone's death, but she knew making assumptions wasn't a good idea in a situation like that one. "Runihura? Do you know for sure the breaker box was tampered?"

"Well – yeah? How else would the killer cause the blackout?" Runihura shrugged.

"They also could have set objects that use electricity to cause a shortage. It is a method some of my employees are fond of in their missions" Vittoria enunciated rather clearly "Did anyone see anything plugged in somewhere?"

"There was nothing strange, I looked everywhere before going outside" Chrysanthe said, so before the discussion returned to saying that something must have been wrong with the breakers box, Azalea decided to solve the matter immediately.

"The box wasn't tampered. I checked it, there was nothing on it"

"Just because you didn't see it after the murder - it doesn't mean there was nothing there in the first place" Kouma pointed, crossing her arms "Or did you check that box – uh – at an earlier point?"

"No! It was after the murder I checked it for the first time" You're not trying to pin this on me, are you?

"Then you can't say for sure there never was something there" Matthew agreed with Kouma "You'd have needed to check during the blackout to know for sure, but no one left the room during the blackout"

"That's right! I know no one did" Chrysanthe supported, earning a smile from Matthew.

"Um, actually...there's someone who may prove to us if there was anything attached to the breakers box" Azalea said. _Even if it was for a second,_ she _must have taken a good enough look at that box. There must be something she can tell!_

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Spots' Testimony**

* * *

"Spots went to stop the blackout. If there's anyone who could have seen the breaker box clearly, it's her!" Azalea turned towards the chevrotain "Did you see anything on the breakers box?"

"Oh? Um, uh..." Spots glanced at Stripes, who shrugged "I saw nothing on the box" _She's not mentioning she was attacked shortly after that...good!_ That could draw some doubts at Spots' testimony, so Azalea wasn't exactly interested in revealing that detail. Elaine's sharp stare at Spots seemed to indicate she had gotten to the same conclusion than Azalea, while Chrysanthe merely looked clueless.

"See? The box wasn't tampered at all" Azalea said "The killer may have walked outside and flip the breakers off, it doesn't have to be more complicated than that"

"That'd be the simplest solution" the lenses of Kamiya's gas mask fogged up, but before he could add anything else, Chrysanthe raised an objection.

"But I saw no one go out of the building! I swear I saw no one!"

Elaine looked at Chrysanthe with attention. "I...I don't think Chrysanthe is lying. Let's leave aside how the culprit left the building and focus on something else. For example, how much did the killer plan this murder?" _Oh boy, will I have to unveil this trump card so soon? No, I shouldn't yet. This isn't the right moment._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Tracks on the Mud / Injection Wound / File About a Past Murder / Skewer / Chrysanthe's Testimony_

* * *

LUCIEN: Was this murder **premeditated**...

LUCIEN: ...or did the killer **improvise**?

KOUMA: **There weren't any skewers** in the Dining Hall

KOUMA: But there could be some in the kitchen

ELAINE: That'd point at **one person** among us

PATRICIO: W-Wait, why are you looking at me?

PATRICIO: Are you saying I did it?!

KOUMA: Did you give the skewers to someone?

PATRICIO: W-Well, no, but—"

JOANNA: Then you were the...

JOANNA: ... **only person with access** to the skewers

PATRICIO: You have to believe me; I didn't do it!

ALEKSEY: He sure is protesting too much

* * *

Was everyone going to accuse Patricio just because he had immediate access to the skewers? It wasn't completely awful logic, but there was something they didn't know. "Patrick wasn't the only one who could have a skewer"

"What do you mean, Lea? Did someone else enter the Kitchen too?"

"They did! In fact, they entered time before Patrick started cooking for the party. Turns out one of the skewers available was stolen earlier during the morning" Everyone turned their heads around to look at Aleksey, who raised his hands in defense.

"Why's everyone looking at me?!"

Kouma put her hands on her hips. "You're a Thief. It's your title"

"Ah, yeah? When someone is killed and it turns out the killer ran thirty laps around the fucking resort see if you like being suspected because of your title" he replied, almost pouting, but since no one looked away or said anything, he added: "No, I didn't take the stupid skewer. I wasn't in the Kitchen at all today"

"Can you prove it?"

"Are you asking me to prove I did _not_ do something?"

"Enough! We can't accuse Aleksey because of a missing skewer" Patricio, maybe out of consideration towards Aleksey as someone who was accused out of the blue, pitched in "We don't even know if that missing skewer was the one used to murder him"

"You realize that if it wasn't then some may think you're the main suspect, right?"

"I know, but I can't let you be accused just like that" the baker said. Azalea, having listened to them, sighed, knowing what she had to do. It was time to present her evidence. _But it could bring suspicion on Aleksey, as flimsy as it may be...he didn't kill Alistair, right?_

"Actually, I have proof that the missing skewer may be the one the killer used"

"Is that possible? Do you have fingerprints or something?" Dalia's eyes widened, impressed, and making Azalea laugh sheepishly.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just that I think the killer planned this murder based on this:"

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **File About a Past Murder**

* * *

Azalea opened and closed her fists, thinking how to word it. "Did you all know we're not the first group to be trapped here?"

"Is that true?" Vittoria turned towards the bailiffs, looking at them with distrust "Is Lady Stravopoulos telling the truth?"

"Of course she is. Don't ask us about it, we weren't there when it happened" Stripes said bluntly "If you want to know what happened then check the files. We're not going to talk about something irrelevant"

Kamiya made a mental note to go check it, but they had a trial to work on right now. "Do you think it has anything to do with this murder" he asked to Azalea.

"It has a lot to do with this murder! I think the killer based their plan on one of the murders from the group before us. In one of the cases, the victim was killed with a skewer"

Joanna took her violin out of its case, delicately touching the strings. "Were there any similarities between the victim of these cases?"

"Uh...not really? I don't even know the personality of the victim from that other case, so—"

"What about the culprit?" Kamiya inquired.

"We can't vote for someone just based on the culprit of a past case!"

 **YOU DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH, DID YOU?**

Matthew's lens had sprung forward, so he tried to press it back into its socket. "Grkh...did you think before mentioning that file, Azalea?"

"What? What do you mean?" That sounded like an attack on her, not on the evidence! _Not cool, Matthew._

Having managed to insert the lens back into its socket, Matthew crossed his arms. "From what you said, the only similarity between that file and this murder is that a skewer was used. To try to argue the culprit based their murder on that file...

...it may be a blunder of outrageous proportions!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Injection Mark / Red Scarf / Monobear File #1 / The Blackout / Tracks on the Mud_

* * *

MATTHEW: I don't mean to offend you

MATTHEW: But I think you're very wrong with this.

MATTHEW: Anyone can use a skewer to commit murder

MATTHEW: Just because that other murder used one...

MATTHEW: ...doesn't mean the killer even knew about that file!

MATTHEW: One single element means nothing

MATTHEW: Unless you can prove it's related...

MATTHEW: It's no more than speculation!

AZALEA: There's a registry with several names of people who accessed to the files

AZALEA: One of them may be the culprit

MATTHEW: Again, a mere skewer isn't enough!

MATTHEW: Unless there are **other similarities** too...

MATTHEW: ...you'll be grasping for straws!

MATTHEW: And have you considered the possibility...

MATTHEW: ... **none of the people** in that registry is the culprit?

MATTHEW: You're not thinking this through, Azalea!

* * *

"That's not the only similarity between these cases" Azalea said "There's another important element that makes me think the killer read that file"

"Another...why didn't you say it before? What's it?"

"The blackout. In that other case, the victim was murdered during a blackout"

That was enough for Dalia to take Azalea's side. "That can't be a coincidence! Not anyone thinks of making blackouts and kill with skewers, right?"

"Um, excuse me? In that file...how did the killer cause the blackout?" Khotso asked, sinking into the strange scarf-like thing he was wearing. Azalea shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. It was proven the blackout wasn't caused by anything other than the killer touching the breakers box"

"Hey, wait Azalea! Wait, we may have solved this already! Who's in that registry you mentioned?"

 _...maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that part. It raised their hopes._ Azalea explained how one of the names was obscured in a way that made her unable to distinguish whose name it was. The atmosphere in the courtroom immediately got colder towards Azalea, many huffing and turning away from her. Chrysanthe, seeing that, jumped in Azalea's defense.

"Guys, don't be like that! The killer read that file, that must be useful for something, right? It's not all lost!"

"Chrysanthe is right, it's too early to discard this information. Let's think it some other way..." Elaine mulled for a moment, before adjusting her glasses and appraising Azalea with attention "What can you tell us about the moment of the murder in that file? Any similarities to Alistair's death?" _This is the chance we needed! There must be something I can tell._ Once Azalea finished explaining the circumstances of the murder in the file, Chrysanthe clutched her pendant, contrite.

"But then that's a problem...if Alistair was killed during the blackout...how was his body taken out of the Dining Hall?"

"And how was it carried?" Khotso added "Most of us don't look strong enough to carry the body all the way to the statues..."

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Alistair's Gloves / Wheelbarrow / File About a Past Murder / Monobear File #1 / The Blackout_

* * *

KOUMA: What's more important to talk about?

KAMIYA: The part about taking the body out, of course

KAMIYA: For example, **concealed in something**

PATRICIO: There's **nothing large enough to hide** the body in

KAMIYA: And no way to take the body out?

JOANNA: Then wonder how the body was moved.

KHOTSO: Was it **_carried_**...?

KHOTSO: ...or was it **_dragged_** away?

DALIA: It'd be easier with **_some sort of tool_**.

ALEKSEY: Wouldn't it have to be something that was...

ALEKSEY: ...already inside the Dining Hall?

ALEKSEY: Because there was nothing in there!

* * *

In Azalea's opinion, the part about how Alistair left the Dining Hall – alive or dead – was way trickier and therefore more important, but she had no idea on how to solve that conundrum. May as well go for what she does already know, and try to solve the other problems later. "It'd be risky for the culprit to carry the body. They'd get covered in blood"

"I did not see dragging marks anywhere, bloody or not" Vittoria said too "He must have been carried"

"But not by the killer, no one was bloodied. Unless...what did the killer use?" Khotso looked at Azalea. She raised the objection, she should answer the question! And she wasn't going to disappoint on that. The answer was simple and very easy to prove.

"They used a wheelbarrow from the Garden. That'd make it easier to move the body all the way to the Plaza, wouldn't it?"

"It would. One doesn't need to be too strong to move a wheelbarrow" Chysanthe said, hitting her palm with her fist "Even I could do it!"

"And the Garden is rather close to the building, the culprit wouldn't need more than a few seconds to get it" Thioro spoke for the first time, looking at Chrysanthe with a strange expression.

"Yeah! Exactly!"

Kouma groaned softly. "Are you sure? If we think the killer carried the body that'd narrow it down a lot, right?" _It would, but that's not what happened. We can't ignore proof just because it's convenient._

"I can prove the killer used the wheelbarrow, if you want" Azalea said.

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Mud on the Body**

* * *

Before Azalea could say anything, Kamiya pressed his mask against his face, the lenses obscuring his eyes. "I saw Alistair's body, it was covered in mud. Was the wheelbarrow covered with mud? Does anyone know?"

"It was in the Garden; it must have mud in it" Dalia said nonchalantly "I bet the killer has mud on their hands right now. Everyone show your palms!" Many people complied, but others seemed less convinced about how effective that request would be.

"There's no way the killer hasn't washed their hands yet" _Uh, okay, guess they got to the right conclusion about the wheelbarrow._

Runihura suddenly kicked his podium, getting everyone's attention. Once everyone turned their heads towards him, the videographer hunched over, thinking. "Sorry, I thought that'd get your...okay! Guys, I think we're getting distracted. This wheelbarrow thing is nice and all, but who is the killer? Do we even have any idea of who killed him?"

"...he's kinda right, we don't have a clue of who the killer is..." Khotso said worriedly, hiding a bit behind his podium "They hid their tracks too well...I don't have the slightest idea who killed Alistair"

"I thought we'd be doing better since we have a detective here" Matthew glared at Thioro, who merely raised his eyebrows in response "When are you going to try to help us? We're kind of lost over here!"

"He may know nothing. We got stuck with a bad detective" Kamiya grumbled. That seemed to have gotten under Thioro's skin, because he scratched the side of his face with force and raised his voice.

"Okay, that's enough! I thought I should listen and let people form their own opinions before giving mine, but if I'm going to be attacked like this I'm not going to stay silent!"

Patricio looked at him with skepticism, not meeting his eyes. "You mean you have a suspect?"

"I don't have _just_ a suspect. I'll back it up with how I think the murder happened"

That was enough to make everyone focus on Thioro, anxious to hear what he had to say. "No way! Why did you wait until now to say that?" Matthew got his guard up, he had been the one to say Thioro was useless as a detective, after all.

"Allowing you guys to discuss and get to your own conclusions is important. Just because I'm a detective it doesn't mean you should take my word as gospel"

Matthew crossed his arms, hesitant. "...okay, you're right...here you're just one person more, I suppose"

"While I agree with Mister McCoy on that, I am more concerned as to who Mister Meziane would like to accuse" Vittoria looked at Thioro with attention "Who is the culprit, Mister Meziane?"

Thioro squared his shoulders, knowing his time had come. Sink or swim, if he didn't back up his accusation he'd be considered unreliable, and although Thioro knew he could be a bit dimwitted at times, he wasn't stupid by any means. "Okay...everyone, the person who murdered Alistair was..." he wiped his forehead with his sleeve, preparing himself "...it was..." then he looked at the person he'd accuse, determination in his eyes. It was time to get serious.

" **Chrysanthe Stravopoulos** , I indict you for the murder of Alistair Sullivan!"

Chrysanthe gasped, her eyes widening. "Me?!" And, just like anyone would have expected, her sister immediately jumped in her defense. Azalea grasped her podium so tightly she thought her fingers would break under the pressure, and faced Thioro with fury.

"What the hell are you talking about? Chrys, a murderer?!"

"That's what the evidence says" Thioro said indifferently, not cowering to her stare "Would you have preferred me to say nothing just to spare your feelings?"

"I—I mean-" he was right, sparing feelings was a luxury no one could afford right now "But then you better have a reason to accuse my sister!"

"Yeah, Lea is right! I did nothing wrong!"

"Calm down!" Vittoria shouted at them, making Azalea pivot towards her. _Vittoria!_

"Don't tell me to calm down when my sister is getting accused of murder!"

"I know, but you need to stay calm. Nothing will be gained by getting into a shouting match" Vittoria said softly, the visible parts of her face carefully neutral "Let is give Mister Meziane a chance to explain himself"

"You better be willing to accept your sister's guilt if Thioro has a good argument, though" Kamiya said. Azalea, realizing her behavior wasn't the best right now, took a deep breath and nodded.

"Fine. Let's listen to Thioro, but we're not going to stay silent once it's done. If there's even a single flaw in it, I'm going to fight as much as I can"

"Yeah!" Chrysanthe hurried to agree "There's no way it'll be a good argument. I know I'm innocent!"

Thioro adjusted his tie, a bit uncomfortable at everyone waiting for him to start telling his reasoning. Knowing he couldn't delay it any longer, the detective sighed and started "Please don't interrupt me while I'm telling my reasoning. Questions at the end, please"

* * *

 **Climax Inference**

* * *

 _The first thing you must know is that Alistair's death happened before the blackout—_

* * *

" _Before_ the blackout?" Vittoria couldn't stop herself from inquiring, and once everyone looked at her with befuddlement she hid her face behind her hair "I am sorry. Please continue"

* * *

 _-as I was saying, Alistair was killed before the blackout. He left the party at some point after the cake was presented. No one noticed he had left, so he was able to leave without any problems. Once he was outside, Chrysanthe took her chance. Using a skewer she had taken from the Kitchen, she attacked Alistair and killed him. Being the only person outside the Communal Building meant there'd be no witnesses to her crime, but the problem now was to move the body. She couldn't leave it anywhere near her, or else she'd be blamed. That's why she went to the Garden and took a wheelbarrow, using it to move the body to the Plaza._

 _Once the body was taken to the Plaza, Chrysanthe returned and caused the blackout, choosing that moment to leave the weapon inside the building. That's what the blackout was for, so she'd be able to put the weapon inside. If you recall right, it was found near the door, where she could have dropped it, and I remember very well I heard a noise during the blackout, that was the skewer being left inside. Once the skewer was inside, she stayed outside and pretended to be clueless._

 _That's how Chrysanthe Stravopoulos was the culprit of this murder!_

* * *

It wasn't a perfect argument by any means, but it was concise enough for the accusation to not to be a waste of time. Azalea narrowed her eyes, thinking back to all Thioro had said. _There must be a weak point somewhere, there must be several! If I can find every way possible to break his argument I'll clear Chrys' name._

 _I can't let her be accused of something she didn't do!_

"Wait, there's something that doesn't fit" Much to Azalea's surprise, Kamiya was the one to say that. The pharmacist leaned forward on his podium towards Azalea "You said the wheelbarrow was used to move the body, right? Is it the same wheelbarrow we both saw in the Garden the day before the murder?"

"Y-Yeah...? It must be the same, I don't think there's any other..."

"Perfect!" Kamiya snapped his fingers "I spilled flower preserver on that wheelbarrow. It's impossible Chrysanthe could have touched the wheelbarrow without risking her own death!"

"What? Why?" Dalia asked.

"Because Chrysanthe is allergic to one of the components of that preserver!"

Kamiya's rebuttal caused a couple hushed discussions. The logic was sound, but not everyone was convinced. "Did she know that you spilled that thing all over the wheelbarrow?" Vittoria inquired.

"Chrys and I were with Kikozou when it happened!" Azalea informed.

"But it doesn't mean Chrysanthe didn't touch the wheelbarrow! She could have been lucky, right? Right?" Khotso argued, but Patricio didn't like that reasoning.

"There's no way she'd put her life on risk!"

Runihura looked at the floor. He didn't want to suspect Chrysanthe, but not saying anything felt wrong. "She would if it meant getting away with the murder" Chrysanthe's stammering response and Azalea's icy glare made him back off, though "But I don't think she'd do it if it meant Azalea would die too"

"Are we 100% sure the culprit used the wheelbarrow?" Vittoria continued pressing on.

"He had all those mud stains on his costume!" Chrysanthe dared to argue on her own behalf, raising her voice in an attempt to sound as assertive as possible "Or do you think the k-killer dragged him through the Garden before carrying him away?"

"You just say that because it's convenient to you" Aleksey muttered.

"Aleksey!" Azalea shouted, aghast. Before the discussion could continue, Thioro raised his voice above everyone else. This was going to be derailed into senseless hubbub unless someone intervened.

"That's enough! Okay, Kikozou, I understand your objection, but it's very easy to solve" Thioro crossed his arms "What if Chrysanthe used gloves? More concretely, gloves from the shed in the Garden? It'd be easy for her to take a pair and use it to protect herself from the preserver"

"Did you find gloves coated in that?" Dalia asked, but Thioro shook his head.

"Nope, but we can't rule it out. This is a completely rational possibility we need to keep in mind, that's all"

He was right about that, as much as Azalea hated to admit it. Just because no concrete proof was found, it didn't mean they could rule it out. _But that doesn't mean she's the killer, she can't be!_

How to prove that, though? How to convince Thioro he was wrong?


	8. Chapter 1: Subverting History VI

The accusation against Chrysanthe was what the Hostages needed to abandon all sense of orderly behavior. Everyone started shouting at the same time, trying to argue in favor or against Thioro's theory. There was hardly anyone who could distinguish what a specific person was saying among the fifteen different voices, and it was clear there wasn't going to be any progress unless someone intervened.

"That's enough!" Thioro managed to shout loud enough over everyone's voices. A few of the Hostages shut up, although others continued their hubbub "This can't continue like this! Are there any doubts Chrysanthe is the culprit?"

"It can't be possible she's the killer! I refuse to believe—" Kamiya tried to say, but Lucien interrupted with a scoff.

"If not her than who did it? Come on, point at someone and accuse them" he challenged, resting the side of his face on his fist, with a disdainful expression on his face "I'm sure you have a very good alternative theory, don't you?"

"The whole thing with the flower preserver can't be his only reason to believe in her" Dalia said to the Hostage next to her.

"But it's impossible she touched the preserver! It had lemon"

"...not if she used gloves, like Thioro suggested" Khotso muttered. Unfortunately for him, Azalea heard him. She glared at him, grasping the podium with both hands.

"No gloves were found!"

"I-I know, but—" Khotso shook his head slowly "Okay, I don't know..."

"Then you better take a decision, because we need to decide if she's guilty" Joanna said "I personally think it's likely she did it"

"Joanna!" Chrysanthe exclaimed

"I'm sorry. Thioro's argument does show you as a possible culprit"

"B-But guys, I didn't do it! I swear I didn't—"

Kamiya pressed his hand to his mask. "There must be someone else who may have done it, Chrysanthe can't be the only suspect..."

"I'm not a killer, I—"

" _Why_ do you think she didn't do it? You're not saying that because she's your friend, are you?" Joanna sneered at him.

"I thought you'd defend her, Joanna" Khotso said "I thought you were friends"

Chrysanthe pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. "P-Please, just listen to me for a moment—" it seemed everyone was determined not to let her finish not even a single sentence. Matthew looked at Khotso, ignoring that Chrysanthe had just tried to say something.

"We can't let things like friendship get in the way of catching a killer. Our lives are at risk here!"

"Why is nobody listening to me?" Chrysanthe said through clenched teeth, a vein was starting to throb on her forehead. Azalea, two podiums away, noticed it, and slowly raised a finger.

"Uuuuuuh...guys? Chrys is—"

"Matthew is right, but if there's a different theory we'd be willing to listen" Thioro said softly. He hadn't intended to be overbearing or take over the trial, but it seemed that's how things were going to go "I'm not a perfect detective-"

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY?!"

Chrysanthe shouted so loudly the Hostages near to her cringed. The gardener's face had a very worrying shade of red and purple, she looked like she was going to jump on the next person to talk to strangle them. Everyone went silent, not having expected Chrysanthe to shout so belligerently. "Honestly, I can't believe this. You all have been yapping your traps without letting me argue on my behalf! What kind of court is this?!"

"Chrysanthe-we" Kouma attempted to try to placate her, but Chrysanthe ignored that. Instead she clenched her fists, still irate.

"Enough of that, you hear me?! I'm going to defend myself, and you all are going to SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

No one said anything for a moment, while Chrysanthe huffed and regained her composure. Once she looked like she wasn't going to blow off her lid at the slightest provocation, Runihura wiped the sweat off his hair with his towel. "Uh, okay, let's listen to her"

Now that everyone was listening, Chrysanthe took a deep breath and started her own argument. She wasn't shouting anymore, that was a good sign. "I admit Thioro's theory has...a few good points, but there are many things I couldn't have done. Do you think I could have lifted Alistair and tie him with his own scarf? I'd need to lift him with one single arm"

"You don't seem that weak to me..." Matthew seemed to be a bit hesitant about staring at Chrysanthe so intently "Doesn't gardening give you strength?"

"It does, but not that much. Besides I didn't have the skewer or the scarf, I never had those"

"Could you not have hidden it somewhere?" Vittoria suggested, although she sounded unsure.

"If I had killed Alistair I wouldn't have used the wheelbarrow. I knew it had that sticky preserver! It'd be...dangerous for me. There are other ways to carry heavy stuff, right?"

Patricio piped up: "But with the gloves—"

"Gloves that were never found. You can't say for sure any gloves were used" Azalea intervened.

"Thanks, Lea! And I never left my spot outside the door. Lea saw me some time before the blackout, and Joanna knows I was there _during_ the blackout, when she went outside"

"You could have sat there _after_ you set up the body" the violinist replied indifferently, not even looking at Chrysanthe.

"And...guys, please, you have to believe me...I'd never kill anyone. I'm not a killer! I wouldn't take a life!" Chrysanthe raised her voice, it creaking a bit. She completely meant what she had said, and although it wasn't proof, it was something she really had wanted to say "Please..." There was silence for a moment while each Hostage decided if they should believe Chrysanthe or not. They all needed to vote for someone and Chrysanthe was the prime target right now, but was she the culprit?

"...what do you all think?" Elaine asked, looking at Chrysanthe with some pity "Did she kill Alistair?"

"It's a possibility we can't ignore" Joanna said. The rest mumbled their support or their arguments, no one really going ahead and saying louder what they thought. It seemed the Hostages were more or less evenly divided between those that supported Chrysanthe and believed in her innocence, and those that still doubted her. _There are many on our side. If we can argue on our favor...we should be able to clear Chrysanthe's name!_

"Wait!" Monobear suddenly shouted, standing up on his throne "Do my ears deceive me? Do we have a split courtroom in here?"

"We do" Stripes said. Spots and him started circling the podiums, marking each one "Eight versus seven"

"We should try that new feature. It should help move things along!" Spots said, having marked other podiums as well.

"I have the perfect mechanism for this! Watch, everyone! This is going to be grand!" Monobear slammed a button on the side of his throne. Underneath the courtroom, the sound of cogs and mechanisms in movement reverberated. The podiums carrying everyone shook and slowly started moving. Azalea gripped her podium, watching the floor in case, not understanding what was going on. _What's this trick?!_ The Hostages were divided according to the marks Spots and Stripes had left on them, leaving the groups facing each other. Thioro was right in front of Azalea.

"What's going on now...?" Azalea looked up. The roof of the courtroom had opened, the night sky was in plain sight.

"Looks like we'll have to argue, a match of wits between our groups" Thioro smirked, although he didn't sound unkindly "Can you guys challenge our argument?" _We have to. If we don't...then Chrys will be voted guilty!_

 _There must be something we can do!_

* * *

 **Scrum Debate:**

* * *

 **IS CHRYSANTHE STRAVOPOULOS THE CULPRIT?**

* * *

Azalea: **windows**

Kamiya: **blackout**

Elaine: **inside the building**

Chrysanthe: **skewer**

Runihura: **scarf**

Vittoria: **mud stains**

Khotso: **tracks in the garden**

* * *

 **PATRICIO:** Chrysanthe is the only person who had the chance to kill Alistair

 _ELAINE:_ EVERYONE **INSIDE THE BUILDING** HAD A CHANCE TO KILL HIM

 **THIORO:** Alistair left through the door and was immediately attacked.

 _KAMIYA_ : DURING THE **BLACKOUT**? IT AFFECTED THE OUTSIDE TOO

 **MATTHEW:** The blackout was done after she set up the body.

 _AZALEA:_ SOMEONE COULD HAVE SEEN HER FROM THE **WINDOWS**!

 **JOANNA:** We all heard the noise of the skewer being dropped inside

 _CHRYSANTHE:_ IT'S NOT CERTAIN IT WAS THE **SKEWER**!

 **KOUMA** : She's strong enough to lift him and tie the scarf!

 _RUNIHURA:_ SHE COULDN'T HAVE OBTAINED THE **SCARF** IN THE FIRST PLACE

 **ALEKSEY:** Chrysanthe had no blood on her because the scarf blocked the wound when she lifted him

 _VITTORIA_ : THERE WERE NO **MUD STAINS** ON CHRYSANTHE EITHER

 **LUCIEN:** The wheelbarrow was used right away to move the body!

 _KHOTSO:_ THE **TRACKS** SHOW THE WHEELBARROW WAS TAKEN BEHIND THE BUILDING

* * *

There had been a lot of arguments against Chrysanthe, trying to prove it was likely she was the culprit, but everyone who had chosen to believe Chrysanthe had managed to parry most of the attacks, denying Thioro's theory. It hadn't been completely refuted, but at least Thioro's indictment of Chrysanthe wasn't the truth everyone was pursuing. _That's good enough for now, but the fight isn't over._ The majority had supported Thioro, and despite having defeated the opposite side, Azalea wasn't sure they had convinced anyone enough not to vote for her.

Aleksey seemed to have shrunken, sinking into his trenchcoat. "So if Chrysanthe isn't the killer, who did it? She was the only suspect we had"

"There must be something only the culprit could have, but what?" Kamiya wondered, remembering all the pieces of evidence.

"What about the skewer? The killer stole it to kill Alistair" Elaine asked him.

"No, there was more than one skewer in the Kitchen. That isn't something only the culprit has" _Something exclusive to the culprit...I'm not completely sure, but there's one object that could work. Maybe?_

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Red Scarf**

* * *

"If we're talking about stuff only the killer had then what about the scarf?" Azalea said "Alistair said he had lost it...or had it stolen"

"So the killer stole Alistair's scarf?" Chrysanthe crossed her arms "Then does that mean they always planned to hang Alistair in the statues?"

"That's likely! Yes, it sounds correct" Thioro nodded "Whoever stole the scarf is the killer. Did you ever put your hands on it, Chrysanthe?" Before the gardener could protest at such senseless question, Aleksey meekly raised his hand.

"Uh, fuck. Guys, are you sure the killer stole the scarf?"

"It must have been the killer- Who else would do that?" Kouma said. Aleksey gulped and said:

"I confess. I stole the scarf. But I didn't kill Alistair!"

There was a stunned silence for a moment, trying to ascertain if Aleksey was serious about it. It didn't seem like he was lying. "Why? Why'd you do that, Aleksey?" Elaine narrowed her eyes, choosing not to voice any possible suspicions she may have.

"I'm a fucking thief, stealing is what I do! And sometimes I don't even notice I stole something until I'm far away" he said "I left the scarf on the base of the Monobear statues before going to the party!"

"You realize that Chrysanthe and you are the main suspects, don't you?" Joanna asked slowly. Aleksey nodded, he knew it very well "But you confessed...either you knew we'd manage to link the scarf to you ooooooor...like a dog pleading not to get neutered, you chose to confess your lesser evil"

"I...what?" the thief seemed confused. _I don't think that simile works, Joanna..._

"Let's leave aside that Aleksey did that. You guys know what it means?" Joanna tightened the strings of her violin, working on it as if she wasn't in middle of a trial "Hanging Alistair from the statues wasn't something the killer planned from the beginning. So why did they take the body to the statues if it wasn't to hang the body?"

"To put distance between them and the body, I suppose" Matthew voiced.

"Exactly. And if we think about that...doesn't that point at Chrysanthe?"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

Cake / Tracks on the Mud / Blackout / Blood on the Bread Lobster / Pots and Pans

* * *

AZALEA: How is that proof against Chrys?

CHRYSANTHE: ...it's because if the body was found near the building...

CHRYSANTHE: ...I'd be the **_prime suspect_**

THIORO: Exactly. Chrysanthe took the wheelbarrow...

THIORO: ...and **moved the body immediately**

THIORO: All so she wouldn't be the suspect.

CHRYSANTHE: But why'd anyone hang Alistair with the scarf?

KHOTSO: What if it was to **_stop the bleeding_**?

JOANNA: Dead bodies don't bleed.

JOANNA: Not that I know about it.

ALEKSEY: So could Alistair have been **_alive at that point_**?

* * *

 _Again trying to pin it on Chrysanthe_. Azalea remembered the discussion they had not too long ago, there was something that seemed not to get through Thioro's thick head. "The tracks showed whoever took the wheelbarrow led it to the back of the building, not the front. It wasn't done to move the body at all!"

"Then why'd someone take the wheelbarrow to the back? There's nothing there related to the murder" Patricio said. As if to prove what Patricio said, Elaine extended the map she made. "Yeah, look at that! There's nothing, just the wheelbarrow"

"Did the killer leave the wheelbarrow there after moving the body?"

"If they had done that...there'd be tracks from side to side of the garden...I think" Khotso refuted. "The culprit had to go to the left side of the building"

Kamiya snapped his fingers, having realized something "There were two blackouts! The killer had to been there to make the second one so soon after Spots restored the lights. That must be when they left the wheelbarrow nearby!" _Yes! That makes sense!_

"No, wait, there's something I don't understand yet. Why did the killer move the wheelbarrow to the back? I don't think anyone answered that" Joanna wondered, narrowing her eyes "We may be missing something here" _She's right...why did the killer move the wheelbarrow to the back first?_ The tracks in the garden showed that's how the culprit moved it, and it can't have been for no reason. _No, this shouldn't be so difficult. What's the most likely possibility here? Hmmmm..._

Azalea drummed her fingers against her arm, closing her eyes in thought "...I think I have a theory. The killer may have moved the wheelbarrow to..."

* * *

 _Mislead us_

 _Hide evidence_

 _Pick up the body_

 _Frame Chrysanthe_

* * *

 ** _Pick up the body_**

* * *

"The killer could have moved the wheelbarrow to pick up the body and move it away" Azalea said "Alistair was moved with that thing; why else would anyone move the wheelbarrow?"

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait-what are you saying?" Kouma seemed a bit rattled by the theory "Are you saying the body – Alistair was outside when the wheelbarrow was first moved?"

Patricio shrugged. "Was he alive or dead?"

"...I think Alistair was dead by then" Lucien answered "The real crime scene may have been outside the building, on the back. So how did Alistair leave the building?"

"Chrysanthe said no one left through the door!"

"Then he must have used a window" Matthew looked at Elaine's map "There are several windows in the back: two in the Kitchen and one in the Petting Zoo. He may have left through any of them"

"Alistair never entered the Kitchen! I'd have seen him, I never moved from there"

Elaine took back the map, placing her finger where it's said Alistair was sitting "He was sitting here, very near the Petting Zoo. He could have gotten in there unnoticed"

A sudden banging noise on the door of the courtroom startled those who were close to it. Everyone looked there, where Stripes had just hit the door with his fist. "What are we, chopped liver? Spots and I were in the Petting Zoo all the time, and that kid _never_ went inside"

"That's right, he never did" Spots corroborated.

"But if Alistair didn't leave through the door...or the Kitchen...or the Petting Zoo...how did he go outside?" Khotso wondered "Did he ever enter the building?"

"I talked to him, he was there" Azalea absent-mindedly started scratching the nail of her thumb again, trying to think of a possibility. No matter how she thought about it, it was impossible for Alistair to have left the building "Let's leave aside the part about how he got outside. What's for sure is that he – or his body – got outside at some point, that's undeniable. I think it must have happened before the blackout"

"Why before the blackout?" Kamiya inquired.

"Because the wheelbarrow was taken to the back. That must have been done to avoid the windows in the Dining Hall, where most of us would have seen them. The killer moved the wheelbarrow, picked up the body, and—"

 **YOU'RE SO WRONG, SIS**

Chrysanthe shook her head, sighing dramatically. "Lea, this is so unlike you"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I have said many times already: no one passed by. That doesn't include only the door...

...I also meant the road in front of me! I saw no one take anyone anywhere!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Map of the Communal Building / Pots and Pans / File About a Past Murder / Blackout / Blue Fibers_

* * *

CHRYSANTHE: If there's something I'm proud of...

CHRYSANTHE: ...it is of my diligence

CHRYSANTHE: I sat beside the door during the whole party

CHRYSANTHE: And I can say...

CHRYSANTHE: ...without a shadow of doubt...

CHRYSANTHE: ...that absolutely no one passed by towards the cottages or plaza!

AZALEA: No one at all?

AZALEA: Our lives are at stake. You need to be sure of it, Chrys

CHRYSANTHE: I'm absolutely sure.

CHRYSANTHE: The only person I saw...

CHRYSANTHE: ...was **you**.

CHRYSANTHE: There's **no place to hide** at

CHRYSANTHE: And **no way to distract** me.

CHRYSANTHE: If anyone had tried to do anything like that

CHRYSANTHE: I'd have told you already!

* * *

Azalea crossed her arms. In her opinion, Chrysanthe was doomed to lose this argument no matter what, it was an undeniable fact Alistair and the culprit had left the building. The problem was how. _For the moment I should shut her up. I'm sorry, Chrys._ "Sis, there was a distraction specifically made to hide the body from you"

"A distraction? If there had been a distraction I'm sure I'd have seen it..." Chrysanthe said, crossing her arms.

"It wasn't a distraction for you to see. It was something done so you _wouldn't_ see" Azalea pointed dramatically "I'm talking about the blackout! Chrys, the blackout was done specifically so _you_ wouldn't see the killer carrying the body away!"

"You have to be kidding! There must be easier ways to hide that than causing a blackout" Aleksey said, his eyes wide open. Khotso raised his head, considering Azalea's words.

"...no, she's right. Shutting down all the lights...it'd be the best way. So that's what the blackout was for..."

"Wait, if the blackout was done so the culprit could move the body, then Alistair was killed beforehand!" Runihura said "He must have died between the moment Patricio delivered the cake and the moment the blackout happened. Was there anyone who wasn't at the building during that time?"

"I was in the Kitchen" Patricio hurried to say "And Vittoria saw me. She went to talk to me during that time!"

"Sir Beltrán is correct, I saw him in the Kitchen. I was not with him the whole time, but I am completely sure Sir Sullivan never entered the Kitchen during that timeframe"

"We can't say for sure everyone in the Dining Hall stayed there all the time-not even with Runihura's camera. We're stuck!" Kouma was right, it was impossible to say for sure if someone had left. Chrysanthe's testimony existed but it was also an undeniable fact two people, alive or dead, had left the building. _I can't see how that could have happened during that timeframe! What are we getting wrong?_

Matthew, seeing that they all had reached an impasse, decided to try to steer the trial into a different direction. "Let's leave that part for later. So, Azalea says the killer did the blackout to take the body. Let's try to make a timeline from here on"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Blackout / Pots and Pans / Spots' Testimony / Skewer / Injection Mark_

* * *

MATTHEW: When the blackout happened, Alistair was **already dead**

LUCIEN: The wheelbarrow had already been taken, I suppose.

ALEKSEY: Did the killer take the body to the statues **immediately**?

RUNIHURA: I think they did. So then they hanged the body...

RUNIHURA: ...and **hurried to return** to the Communal Building

PATRICIO: Then they **threw the skewer inside**.

PATRICIO: Stripes went outside and solved the blackout

KHOTSO: ...I think that's all that happened. We didn't **miss anything** , did we?

JOANNA: I don't think we did.

JOANNA: But this may have been a waste of time

* * *

"We did miss something in that list: the second blackout. Spots had gone outside to solve the first one, and the lights returned for a moment" Azalea said.

"Oh! That is true! Did you see anything during that time?" Vittoria asked to Spots, who looked away, her stitched frown fitting for the situation.

"Uh, I...I had only a second or two to look around, I don't know..."

"Did you see or find anything strange?" Thioro inquired.

"I...okay, the big lever, the one that controls all the lights? It was covered with something sticky" Spots raised her paws "And now I smell like lemons. Is that good enough?"

"Something sticky – and smells like lemons? It must have been the preserver. The wheelbarrow had that" Kouma said.

"The skewer that killed Alistair had preserver on it too" Runihura noted "Isn't that strange? Why'd the weapon have preserver on it if the culprit grabbed the wheelbarrow after Alistair died?" _Runihura is right! That's strange..._

"That's not so hard. The killer grabbed the skewer and threw it inside the building after hanging the body. That's not so difficult" Lucien shrugged, disdainful of how in his opinion some of the Hostages were overthinking stuff. This time they did have a reason to think about all this, though.

"...no, that can't be right. Didn't you guys hear a clinking sound during the second blackout?" Azalea cocked her head "That could have been the skewer falling to the floor. But if that's the case, there's something that should have been covered in preserver around that time but it wasn't"

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Breakers Box**

* * *

"Let's think this through: Spots fixed the blackout and got all that preserver over her paws, right?" everyone nodded to that "So the culprit touched the breakers box again, and then threw the skewer inside, the skewer that had preserver on it. Then why did the breakers box not have any preserver the second time?"

Elaine frowned. "That can't be right...did the killer wash their hands or something before grabbing the skewer again?"

"At least this should mean no gloves were used at all. It'd make no sense for anyone to randomly take off the gloves and then put them on again" Matthew said, and looked at Chrysanthe "Congratulations, I think this makes you innocent"

"It doesn't have to mean that, Matthew" Lucien said "Anyone could toss the skewer inside without dirtying their hands with the preserver. The only thing that's for sure is that the killer grabbed the skewer at some point after touching the wheelbarrow" _...wait, that is..._

"How odd...if Alistair was killed with the skewer...it shouldn't have any preserver on it, right?" Azalea mused, the more they talked about the order of events, the more obvious it was something was very off "It happened _before_ the killer grabbed the wheelbarrow" The Hostages thought about the possible meaning of this inconsistency. There certainly was something to be solved here, but what could it mean?

"...the only time I think the culprit would have touched the skewer was at the plaza" Vittoria said "It could be possible the killer left it on Alistair is wound until he was hanged"

Runihura touched his own neck, wincing "It'd be too long for it to stay in the wound"

"But Vittoria is right, that'd be the only time the killer would touch the skewer" Khotso agreed "Something isn't right with this murder...what is it?" There was silence in the courtroom for a moment, everyone trying to think what they were getting wrong. _What is it? What am I missing here?_

"...I have been thinking about this enigma, and I think I realize a possible discrepancy" Vittoria said, flipping her hair "The second blackout happened almost immediately, did not it? And Spots got attacked. Would not that mean the culprit was outside right at that moment?"

"...Vittoria is right! Spots! Are you sure you saw absolutely nothing?" Kamiya asked, turning his head towards the entrance of the courtroom. Spots, finding herself under the spotlight, tensed and fidgeted.

"I saw no one! I'm sorry, I was hit behind the head, so I didn't..." Spots trailed off, but Lucien raised his palm, silencing her.

"Stop that and just say if you say anything at all. We don't need a name; say anything you may remember"

"Oh. Uh..." Spots grabbed her head "It was just one second, I didn't have time to look around. I can see in the dark, but that doesn't mean—" she pressed her paws against her snout, surprised "Wait! I think I saw something"

"What is it? What did you see? Is it important?" Aleksey pressed. Spots thought for a moment before nodding, her paws still against her face.

"I just remembered it...and I think it's important. I head you all wonder about this stuff, so I tell you..." Spots lowered her paws "...I saw an open window!"

"What?! And you waited until now to say that?!" Azalea shouted. That was extremely important! If they had known earlier they'd have progressed quicker!

"I said I just remembered it!"

Aleksey nervously rummaged the pockets of his trench coat, making all the objects in there rattle "Then that means there's a way out of the Communal Building. Think, Spots, which window was open?"

"I don't...I don't know which one it was. I saw it for a second, but I think it was the window to the left of the breakers box"

"To the left? Which window would that be?" Elaine took out her map, having asked that aloud. Azalea crossed her arms, thinking. _To the left of the breakers box was..._

 _..._

 _..! Wait, could it be...?_

"If a window was open then that must be how Alistair and/or the culprit got out, and how the culprit returned inside" Vittoria said "The problem is that it must have happened while the lights were on. How did we not notice there was a window open?"

"Maybe it was always open" Dalia suggested. _No, that isn't it..._

Everything was starting to make sense. Azalea's eyes widened, having realized something that could change the whole trial's course. "Elaine, give me your map!"

"Here you go" Elaine sounded rather solemn, it was likely she had gotten to the same conclusion than Azalea. The motivator grabbed the map and traced it with her finger. _Yes, this fits!_

"Runihura, your camera!"

"What for?" Runihura tried to ask, but Azalea glared at him. He had no other option than obeying, so he passed the camera. Azalea watched what the camera had recorded during the blackout. _Yes...yes! That's what we got wrong!_

"Guys, we have made a lot of mistakes today!" Azalea said, closing the foldable screen of the videocamera "We got so many things wrong, it's no surprise we got stuck!"

Patricio frowned "What did we get wrong? Or better yet, what did we get right?"

"The only thing we got right was how the killer moved the body and what happened during that. Everything else was wrong. The time of death, the location of the real crime scene, everything else was mistaken!"

"Can the vague riddles, Azalea" Aleksey crossed his arms "Do you have any idea who the killer is?"

Azalea nodded. "I do. I think I know who the killer is. I can back it up, too"

"Wait. Let's be practical and tackle this one topic at once" Joanna took the bow for her violin and pointed at Azalea with it "Start with the crime scene. Do you really know where Alistair died?"

"I do, Joanna. The real crime scene is..."

* * *

 _The Dining Hall_

 _The Kitchen_

 _The Petting Zoo_

 _Outside the Communal Building_

 _The Monobear Plaza_

* * *

 ** _The Kitchen_**

* * *

"The real crime scene was actually the Kitchen. Not only Spots saw one of the windows of the Kitchen open right at a time when the culprit was away, it also makes sense that the way out would be in a place we wouldn't see!"

"...are you trying to say...do you realize what you are saying, Lady Azalea?" Vittoria had turned pale, starting to realize what Azalea was getting at.

"I know what I'm saying. This narrows down the suspect list to pretty much one single person, and that's no accident.

The person who murdered Alistair was..."

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Patricio Beltrán**


	9. Chapter 1: Subverting History VII

"Patricio, you killed Alistair, didn't you?"

Unlike when Thioro accused Chrysanthe, Azalea's indictment of Patricio was received with a baffled silence. Many turned to look at Patricio to see his reaction. Patricio's face was inexpressive, looking at Azalea with unreadable expression. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.

"And _now_ you finally say my name correctly?"

"That's all? That's all you got to say?" Joanna inquired in disbelief, her until-now abrasive behavior during most of the trial now gone.

"Of course not! It's also not true! I didn't kill Alistair"

"...I see" she turned towards Azalea "Thioro had to explain his reasoning. You'll do the same"

"Gladly" Azalea nodded. Everyone was listening to her, it was her chance to set the record straight and point in the right direction. Azalea crossed her arms "As I said, the only thing we got right is that the body was moved after Alistair died. Details like the crime scene were wrong. He actually died in the Kitchen!"

"But that can't be possible...I saw no blood at all in the Kitchen" Lucien said "Did he clean it up?"

"There was blood in the Dining Hall" Dalia said.

"If Alistair was killed in the Kitchen, it'd be easy for Patricio to put the body outside" Azalea continued "He'd need only a few seconds to do that!"

Vittoria shook her head, her very long hair gracefully swinging from side to side. "No. Lady Azalea, I entered the Kitchen and spent there enough time to say it is unlikely Patricio had time to hide the body"

"What if he hid the body outside?"

"Uh...wouldn't Chrysanthe maybe see the body...if it was left outside?" Khotso pointed "It'd be risky, right?"

"That does not matter! I am completely sure Patricio can not have killed Alistair before I entered the Kitchen. I would have noticed anything off" Vittoria remarked, raising her voice a bit "Lady Azalea, you can not suggest Sir Patricio had time to hide the body anywhere or clean the so-called crime scene!"

 _She's right about that. "_ That's the one other big thing we got wrong" Azalea replied, not budging an inch "That's because Alistair didn't die right before you arrived the Kitchen. That's what we got wrong too!"

"Then when did Alistair die?" Elaine inquired, listening with attention. Azalea looked at her hands, nervous. This was it. Everything she had planned relied on this very moment. If she could assert her theory right here and now it was likely she'd be accepted...but was she right? Was Patricio the killer? Her instincts screamed that he was, the evidence made sense...the problem was that she didn't have the indisputable evidence that'd be really useful right now. Was her opinion enough to sway everyone? If she didn't manage to do it then it was likely Chrysanthe would be suspected again, wouldn't she?

Whatever would happen started now. _I have to be right; this must be the truth!_ "The real time of death was actually..."

* * *

 _At the start of the party_

 _After delivering the main dish_

 _After delivering the cake_

 _During the blackout_

 ** _At the start of the party_**

* * *

It was the only way it fit the evidence. When else could it have happened? "We were wrong about the time of death because we failed to consider other possibilities. We were sure that Alistair had died during or shortly before the blackout because it didn't seem logical to think he may have died at any other time.

That's where we went wrong. Alistair didn't die during the blackout, or even before that. The real time of death was at the start of the party!"

"You can't be serious!" Aleksey shouted "We would have noticed if Alistair was missing during the whole party, right?"

"Not really...we were all busy having fun and eating stuff, and if someone wasn't there we'd have thought they were outside, sleeping or something" Dalia said "Of course no one would notice Alistair wasn't around"

Joanna looked at her shoes, pensive. "Did Patricio really have the chance to kill him so soon? Why'd he do that?"

"That's something he'll have to tell" Aleksey faced Patricio, who was silent and simply listening to what everyone was saying "Hey! What's up with the silence? You're being accused of murder!"

"...what do you want me to say? I didn't do it"

"That's not the defense an innocent person would give, right? Chrysanthe defended herself" Khotso whispered to the Lucien, who nodded. Patricio was on the other side of Khotso, so he heard him say that.

"Okay, you want me to defend myself? Fine! I'll do it!" Patricio straightened his white cap and tightened his blue ascot before looking to Azalea "Hey, you! Are you sure that Alistair died so early?"

"Completely sure, Patricio. I have no doubts" Azalea responded immediately, not afraid of being questioned further. The baker, maybe not having expected an immediate reply, crossed his arms, looking at her down his nose.

"You have to be kidding. How can anyone prove that? No one saw anything and there's nothing in the Kitchen or anywhere that proves it. You're just trying to pin this on me because you don't want to see your sister accused!"

"Uuuummmm...he's right, Azalea...some could think that" Khotso piped up "I don't doubt you, but other people, you see..."

Azalea nodded. "I understand" _Obviously this wouldn't fly if there's no evidence_ "I have decisive proof"

"Decisive proof? Do you really mean that?!" Elaine's eyes widened so much the edges were visible beyond the thick frames of her glasses.

"I mean it" she said. Patricio looked at her with wariness, finally deciding to take the leap.

"Do it, I dare you. I wouldn't kill Alistair, there can't be anything that says I did it when you say it happened!"

"The proof exists!" _Here we go. This is it. If I can prove it, we'll have triumphed. I better think this carefully_. "The proof..." Azalea started to say, but then she choked up. She felt like a knot had formed in her throat, she had a bit of trouble breathing, and even if she tried to say something, no word came out of her mouth. _No...I can't do it. I can't point at him and demand everyone to vote for him! He'll die!_

"Azalea?" Khotso got off his podium, hesitating if he should approach her "What's wrong?"

"...I...I..." _I'm a liar._ _I told Chrys it was either us or the culprit. Here's the culprit, why can't I continue?!_ She knew very well why, though. The thought of being responsible for the death of a person weighed a lot in her heart. "...I c-can't..."

"You can't what? You can't prove it?" Lucien crossed his arms, unamused and not really caring about how Azalea was feeling.

"I..."

"Azalea, do you have proof or not?" Thioro frowned. He had to support his accusation with proof, it was to be expected someone else would have to too.

"I do, but—"

"You don't know if you...want to lead to him dying" Khotso murmured. Patricio stared at Azalea for a moment before looking away, furrowing his brow.

"No, she simply has nothing she could use against me"

"Shut up!" the astronomer shouted to Patricio before turning to Azalea "Please, if you thought of something, say it. We're relying on you – your sister is relying on you. Please..."

Azalea swallowed, shivering a bit. This was it. Her words were going to lead to death, whether it was for everyone innocent and herself or for Patricio. What option did she have but say it? "Sorry...it's that I never thought I'd be sending someone to their death. I'll talk"

"You can't seriously have any proof that I killed anyone!" the baker protested, but Azalea slowly started raising her voice, forcing herself to continue.

"No. I have proof! I have proof you murdered Alistair. In fact, what I'm going to say will be the first step towards your death" Azalea grabbed the rim of the podium, shouting. "Everyone! Listen to me now!

This proves **_both_** the time and place of Alistair's death!"

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Blood on the Bread Lobster**

* * *

There was no other meaning that piece of evidence could have, as far as she could see. "During my investigation with Elaine I found there was a drop of blood on the bread of that lobster thing Patricio served"

Khotso turned green. "Someone almost ate somebody's blood?"

"I don't think Patricio would be as careless as to cook with open wounds. Can't it have fallen there later?" Lucien mused, but Azalea shook her head, turning Elaine's map around and showing it to everyone.

"The blood was on the side that faced the wall. I don't think it'd be possible for anyone's blood to fall on that side, but there was blood, that's undeniable. How did it get there?

Keep in mind that bread has been in only two places: the Dining Hall and the Kitchen. If it wasn't in the Dining Hall then it must have fallen there while it was in the Kitchen"

Chrysanthe leaned forward to take a better look at the map, unconvinced. "There was blood in the Dining Hall! It could be from that"

"Yeah, the bloody skewer was there too" Runihura agreed.

"No. The skewer and that blood were on the other side of the room, away from the bread. It can't be the same blood" Azalea crossed her arms "That thing was in the Kitchen before it was taken to the Dining Hall. Do any of you remember when exactly Patricio brought that lobster to the party?"

"It wasn't long after the party started...oh!" the videographer dried his face, thinking about what that meant "That's why you say Alistair died at the start of the party!"

"Exactly. That single drop of blood proves something very important" Azalea gripped the podium and pointed triumphantly. This was it "It proves that Alistair died **less than fifteen minutes after the last time I saw him,** and it all happened in the Kitchen!"

Patricio squeezed his blue ascot, starting to sweat. "You can't be serious! That could be anyone's blood!"

"We can't prove it's Alistair's blood but there's no one else that blood could belong to"

"That doesn't mean a thing. You can't link that to me in any way!"

"Then how about I prove how you disposed of the skewer during the blackout?" Azalea offered. Patricio choked for a moment, startled, but recovered enough composure to protest.

"You can't prove that either. All you have is baseless conjectures! Why can't anyone see that there's not a shred of direct proof against me?!"

Matthew scowled. "Shut up already, Patricio. Azalea is talking" he turned towards Azalea "Can you prove that too?"

"The skewer was in the other side of the Dining Hall, and I think if Patricio had tossed the skewer inside the building Chrysanthe would have noticed despite the blackout" Joanna piped up "It'd be difficult to prove he even touched the skewer"

"What about my hands? They should smell like lemon, right? Come on, smell my hands!" Patricio demanded, extending his palms forward to the closest Hostage, who recoiled with disgusted expression.

Kamiya had something to say, though. "Patricio had access to water, it'd be easy for him to wash his hands. There's no way he'd be as careless as to let his hands have any preserver remains on them"

"I never touched that thing!" Patricio yelled, his fingers curling on the rim of the podium.

"As I said, I can prove that it's possible for Patricio to have gotten the skewer in that place" Azalea raised the evidence she intended to show to everyone now "Take a look at this and you'll understand"

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Video Recording**

* * *

"Runihura had a camera recording all the moments of the party after the bread was delivered, and that includes the blackout. It doesn't show anything but silhouettes, but that should be enough for me to show you what I mean"

"But if it's just silhouettes then we can't say for sure Patricio was there. That blackout made all as blind as the darkest night" Elaine pointed out, but Azalea simply smiled, pleased with herself.

"Oh, but that's no problem. You see, Patricio got the skewer to the other side of the Dining Hall without even leaving the Kitchen. Watch this and you will understand" A few of the Hostages approached Azalea's podium to watch the video. Indeed, just like Azalea said, there were only silhouettes, and the sounds were voices they couldn't identify who they belonged to.

"What are we supposed to see here...?" Kamiya cleaned the lenses of his gas mask, trying to distinguish anything.

"Look in this area, up here"

In the recording, the shape that was the cake fell down, and after a while what Azalea was waiting for finally appeared. A small thin shape flew high in the air, only visible against the starry sky that could be seen through the windows. "Did you guys see that?" Azalea rewinded the video to show it again, stopping the recording at the moment that shape was in the frame. It was blurry and no one could say for sure what it was.

"What's that?" Elaine inquired. Azalea's face denoted a lot of satisfaction, she felt completely certain of her theory.

"That was the skewer. It crossed the air during the blackout, see? That's why Patricio needed the blackout to continue, that's why he attacked Spots and disabled the lights again: all so he could throw the skewer away from him, away from the Kitchen!" Patricio, who hadn't approached but could guess what they were talking about, hid his face behind the white fabric of his cap.

"Anyone could have thrown that! What if it was, say, Aleksey?"

Chrysanthe took Elaine's map, noticing something immediately "But Elaine's map...look where the skewer is. Look where the Kitchen is! They're on the same side of the Dining Hall!"

"And if you look here, you see the skewer was found in a place that aligned with the door of the Kitchen" Dalie tilted her head, considering it "I think Azalea's onto something here...and the few drops of blood we found around were from when the skewer soared through the air? It was fresh blood, some of it could have dripped" she suggested, getting several Hostages to agree with her. It did start to seem like Patricio had thrown the skewer to the other side of the Dining Hall, once another thing pointing at him. The baker had gone mostly silent, looking at the surface of his podium with pensive expression. All he said was '...that is no solid proof either...'

"Okay, I think I see how the murder happened. Patricio got Alistair to come to the Kitchen, killed him, carried the body away while causing the blackout, returned and threw the skewer through the Dining Hall. Am I getting this right?" Elaine asked. It seemed like a solid enough supposition, at first sight, but in Matthew's opinion, there was something off.

"Why didn't we hear anything? Alistair was stabbed in the front of his neck, there's no way he didn't see it coming, and the Kitchen isn't soundproof. How did Patricio get him to stay silent while he killed him?"

"Is that where that injection thing in Alistair's wrist comes into play?" Thioro asked, crossing his arms and letting everyone else do the detective job. Joanna shook her head.

"Why'd Patricio have a sedative or something like that right there in the Kitchen? That doesn't make sense. No, there must have been some other way" she said. _They're right...how did Patricio manage to restrain Alistair?_

Patricio didn't seem too worried about that. "You all don't think it was a surprise attack, right? I can't do that"

"You know how difficult it'd be to aim to the windpipe while attacking from the back, and with such a long weapon? That can't be easy"

Matthew had a possible answer. "No, I don't think there was an attack from the back or something. What if Alistair was attacked from the front in one swift move? Like if Patricio had the weapon at hand, and attacked swiftly?" _That could be it..._ Other Hostages didn't accept such explanation, though.

"Why'd Patricio have the skewers out? Nothing he baked needs skewers, and Alistair would have noticed if he moved to take out a skewer"

"It could have been the skewer that was supposedly missing" Runihura suggested. _...huh?_ Patricio immediately jumped in his own defense, claiming that he hadn't lied, that someone had stolen a skewer. _Then what? Patricio prepared a different skewer to kill Alistair, or..._ No, something didn't fit. Now that she thought about it...why'd Patricio throw the skewer away in the first place? Why not to wash it and leave it with the others? That was a move she couldn't explain easily. _Unless..._

Azalea spoke slowly, trying to think of she had a good basis for what she was going to say. "...what if the skewer we found is a decoy?"

"A decoy?" Lucien raised his eyebrows, skeptical.

"Yeah, what if...what if Alistair wasn't killed with that skewer? Or with any skewer?"

Khotso frowned, unsure if that really made any sense. "Why'd you think that...?"

"Because if that was the murder weapon then Patricio could have washed it and left it with the rest, we couldn't have supposed Alistair was killed with a skewer" _Well, I would have, but nobody else would._ Unless someone read the file, Azalea saw no way anyone would immediately think of a skewer "What if Alistair was killed with a different object, and Patricio left the skewer as a false clue?"

 **I CAN'T STAND ASIDE ANY LONGER**

Elaine said that, shaking her head. "Azalea, I think you're rather intelligent and all that, but you should return that theory to whatever pawn shop you got it from"

"I'm not throwing wild theories. There are reasons to think there's something odd about that skewer!"

"I was right there with you and Runihura when we found the skewer! I'm completely certain it was the weapon that snuffed Alistair's life out!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Alistair's Gloves / Registry / Skewer / Tracks in the Mud / Map of the Communal Building_

* * *

ELAINE: The wound that killed Alistair

ELAINE: showed a very thin weapon was used

ELAINE: There aren't many objects like those in the resort

ELAINE: Except in the Kitchen, where the skewers would be found

ELAINE: It'd be easy for Patricio to grab one and kill Alistair

ELAINE: You don't have to make up any other weapons

ELAINE: Because none would exist, in the first place!

AZALEA: There could be other objects that can make that same wound

AZALEA: And there are details that make it dubious...

AZALEA: ...that skewer killed anyone.

ELAINE: Details? What?

ELAINE: **What's off**? Nothing!

ELAINE: Unless you have **a different weapon**...

ELAINE: ...to show us, you have no foot to stand on.

ELAINE: The last word of this chapter has been written, Azalea

ELAINE: Patricio is **guilty;** you don't need to argue anymore!

* * *

"I'm saying the skewer isn't the crime weapon precisely because something is off about it" Azalea clarified, thinking back to how the skewer looked "Don't you think that skewer was...too bloody to be the crime weapon?"

"T-Too bloody? What's so strange about the crime weapon having blood?"

"There was blood all the way to the hilt. That's a skewer, it's a long object measuring several inches, it can't all have been deep into Alistair's neck"

Elaine thought about it. What Azalea was saying made some sense, there shouldn't be blood covering so much "Couldn't the blood have flowed from the tip to the hilt?"

"How much fresh blood did it have? Only the tip of whatever killed Alistair must have been inserted, that wouldn't gather _that much_ blood!"

"...it's...not a bad argument" she conceded and looked at Patricio, who was still mostly listening "What did you kill him with?"

"I didn't do it. There isn't even anything in the Kitchen that could make that wound" Patricio seethed with anger, although he refrained from lashing out at anyone "Azalea is lying. I had nothing to do with that skewer or with anything else!"

"Now that I think about it...Patricio! You hid the box of skewers so we wouldn't realize there were two empty spaces! I had seen a single one before, if I had seen that box again I'd have guessed immediately the skewer in the Dining Hall could have come from that box!" Patricio sucked air through his teeth, but didn't refute what Azalea said. _Yeah! We're doing great!_

"Any ideas what the weapon could be?" Joanna asked to Azalea. The motivator's shoulders slumped, that was a question she still didn't have an answer for. "...figures. But it's not an idea without merit, there may be something else that could have been used" _And depending of what it is, it could point at Patricio directly. What could it be?_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Breakers Box / Wheelbarrow / Cake / Injection Mark / Mortal Wound_

* * *

CHRYSANTHE: The culprit wouldn't leave the murder weapon **_in plain sight_**...

CHRYSANTHE: ...if they went through the effort to make a false one

MATTHEW: So you say the real weapon is hidden?

AZALEA: No, Patricio could simply wash it.

PATRICIO: There was nothing in **the Kitchen** , I told you already!

PATRICIO: And I never moved from there, no matter what Azalea says!

JOANNA: Then could it have been found in the **Dining Hall**?

CHRYSANTHE: Or In the **Petting Zoo** , that was very near to the Kitchen

THIORO: Patricio could have left it anywhere **outside**...

THIORO: ...and we simply didn't see it

DALIA: That'd be disastrous for us!

LUCIEN: The **Garden** is the other option there is.

ALEKSEY: ...it looks like we can't get anywhere...

ALEKSEY: ...until we decide **where the weapon could have come from**.

* * *

Aleksey was right. Until they defined where the weapon could have been at, it was useless to try to pinpoint what it was. There was only one place she could see Patricio obtaining a weapon from, though. "You're right, Aleksey. We need to decide that first"

"Uh, thanks. But there's no way to know for sure what place it could be"

"There's a way. If we're thinking that Patricio washed or hid the weapon, it'd likely he left it where it came from, right? That narrows it down. It can't have been the Dining Hall, because we'd have noticed, and it can't have been the Petting Zoo, because those two over there were there" Azalea said, gesturing at Spots and Stripes.

"Then...outside? Somewhere in the grass?"

"Not really, Elaine and I couldn't have missed anything, and if it had been the Garden, Chrysanthe would have noticed, right?" Azalea looked at Chrysanthe, who nodded.

"There was nothing strange or out of place in the Garden or in the shed"

"The only place left is where Patricio spent all the time: the Kitchen"

"I'm telling you, there's nothing there as thin as a skewer!" the baker objected, looking around with nervousness "I'd know, I have been there several times already! So have all of you!"

"If it's something from the Kitchen then it should be something Patricio had nearby already, or Alistair would have noticed him taking out something that could be used as a weapon" Lucien mused.

"Haha...there's nothing like that! I'm a baker, and I can tell you none of my tools are as thin as a skewer! In fact, I had out everything I needed for the bread, the pastries and the cake, nothing else! Is it clear? There's nothing-!"

Matthew's lens suddenly sprang forward. While he forced it back into its socket, he spoke: "What about a sugar pump?"

"N-No!"

"A sugar pump? What's that?" Kouma asked.

"It's a tool that lets cooks and bakers to _inject_ air or fluids into food, I think. Azalea and I saw a couple of those when we looked around the Kitchen when we arrived to the resort" he explained. Azalea gasped, realizing Matthew was right. _We did see those!_ Could one of the sugar pumps be the murder weapon?

"Excuse me, did you say 'inject'?" Thioro inquired "Could it have been used to inject something into Alistair?" Matthew thought for a moment, trying to remember how exactly those tools looked like.

"No, the tip was too large for it to leave a mark as small as a syringe's. It should be large enough to leave a wound like the one we found on Alistair's neck, though"

"That's false! I didn't—I didn't even have the sugar pumps ready for anything!" Patricio continued to try to argue, pointing at Matthew with fury "Nothing I did needed sugar pumps!"

"Are you sure? Many of the pastries you made were filled with stuff, that bread too. And what about the cake?" Azalear asked, earning a glare from Patricio.

"You can't prove I used the pumps on any of that!"

"That's right, we can't" Kouma agreed "But the possibility has been raised - we can't ignore it. You could have killed Alistair with a sugar pump"

" _COULD_?! You're merely making _CONJECTURES_!"

Chrysanthe turned to look at Azalea. "Do you think the trial has gone for long enough? I think we may be close to finishing this"

"You're right, sis" Azalea cleared her throat "Okay, everyone, let's see what we have found so far. Tell me if anything I'll say sounds inaccurate or strange, alright? This is what we think happened. This is how this case happened!

* * *

 **Climax Inference**

* * *

 _The party had barely started when this murder occurred. Alistair, for reasons only known to him, went into the Kitchen, maybe to convince Patricio to stop the party by arguing someone could be planning murder. What he didn't know was that he was meeting with the person who'd be his murderer._

 _Alistair was stabbed in the neck with a sugar pump. He tried to stop the bleeding, pressing his hands against his neck and smearing his gloves with blood, but there was nothing to be done. The sugar pump had perforated the airways. Alistair died, unable to breathe. The murder had been committed._

 _But the culprit couldn't leave the body lying there. Anyone could enter and see it, and the more time passed, it could leave more blood around. So the culprit hid the body, most likely in one of the cupboards, and proceeded to clean the blood that stained the floor and the objects around, not realizing a drop of blood had fallen on the lobster made of bread he had cooked so expertly._

 _The party couldn't be stopped now, everyone would realize something was off if the killer suddenly called off the party, so he continued. They delivered the bread lobster and later the cake, pretending nothing had happened, and once they had nothing else to take to the Dining Hall, the killer proceeded to cover his tracks._

 _They took out Alistair's body from the place it had been hidden at and took it outside, exiting through one of the Kitchen windows. Once the body was out, they retrieved the wheelbarrow from the Garden and placed the body inside, in the process covering his hands with flower preserver that was on the wheelbarrow. But how to get past Chrysanthe? She'd see them. The method the culprit chose...was to cause a blackout. It not only turned off all the lights inside the building, it also turned off the lampposts in the outside. Safe in the darkness, the culprit hurried to take the body to the Monobear Plaza, where they found a scarf left there by a petty thief, and saw it as a chance to confuse us further._

 _Hanging the body using the scarf shouldn't have taken long. During the process the culprit smeared a skewer with blood, surely remembering what I had talked with them about a past case. It'd be a way to direct attention away from him and towards whoever stole the missing skewer. After getting rid of the box with the rest of the skewers the culprit returned to the Communal Building and entered the Kitchen back, where he washed his hands, getting rid of the preserver and blood on them._

 _Around that time, Spots managed to get to the breakers box, and the culprit somehow noticed she was getting closer. The culprit returned outside and stopped Spots, hitting her, and ensured the blackout would continue for a while longer. All that remained was plant the false weapon. To do that, the culprit opened the door of the Kitchen and aimed, intending to throw it in direction of the door and as far away as possible from the Kitchen. During that time, he also shouted 'Alistair', perhaps expecting us to believe Alistair was around at that time? Having done this last step, the culprit closed the door and waited for someone to turn the lights back on, and mingled with the rest of us, pretending to be worried._

 _There's only one person who had the opportunity and means to do all this, and that person...it's you! **Patricio Beltrán!**_

* * *

Patricio's expression turned pained, hearing the recollection of his crime. "That isn't what happened! I didn't kill him, I swear!"

"But it does make sense. Everything Lea said makes sense" Chrysanthe said "Patricio, believe me, I wish you weren't the killer, but...but it does seem like you are the killer" despite his actions having ended on her being framed – although unwittingly, it seemed – Chrysanthe had sympathy for the baker. He hadn't seemed like a bad person to her, after all.

"Chrysanthe, I..." Patricio shook his head, grabbing it in his hands "Wait, wait a second here! Azalea, I won't let this stand just like that!"

 _He still wants to fight...there must be something I haven't solved yet_ Azalea steeled herself for what may come. How hard would Patricio attack her arguments? "Do you have any objections?"

"I do! You think I hid—SOMEONE hid the body in a cabinet! Did you see how small those things are?" Patricio's slip didn't go unnoticed. Many of the Hostages' faces turned grave when they heard that. It was as good as over, but since Patricio was still fighting they didn't say anything. All they knew was that their vote was set.

"Not all the cabinets are small. Matthew told me there's one that was large enough for him to crawl inside" Elaine informed "If you put the body inside, then—"

"Those cabinets are made for storing stuff! There's no space to hide a body!"

"I can prove you hid Alistair in the largest cabinet in the Kitchen" Azalea replied. Patricio groaned but didn't back down, refusing to let this end easily "I saw something while I was investigating, and the only way it's linked to anything is if you put something large inside the cabinet"

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Pots and Pans**

* * *

"After the murder some of us went to the Communal Building to investigate, and when we entered the Kitchen I saw something unusual: there were many pots piled up, and it didn't seem like they were used at all"

"He just said the cabinets were filled with pots" Chrysanthe pointed, looking at Patricio with some pity "Does that mean he emptied one of the cabinets?"

"He emptied one enough for him to stash the body inside. That'd explain why no one saw Alistair's corpse!" Azalea remarked, looking straight at Patricio. The baker pulled his cap over his head so much Azalea thought it'd burst.

"You can't prove anything. Prove it! Prove I hid the body in there!"

"How do you expect us to prove that? We can't go and check the cabinet" Kamiya said.

"Then you have nothing. I didn't hide anything!"

Spots and Stripes looked at each other and nodded. Having confirmed with each other the next step, Stripes stepped forward. "Hey. Since I think this'll end going in circles, we'll do our job as bailiffs and lend you a paw here"

"What do you mean?" Kouma inquired, looking at him with attention.

"If you ask us, Spots and I will help you once in a trial. Why don't we go check that cabinet for you all?" _Yes! That's our chance!_

"Do it. That's the only place where Patricio could have hidden the body. Leaving it outside was too risky, if he kept it in the Kitchen, he could be sure it wouldn't be found before it was time" Chrysanthe agreed.

"There must be blood in that cabinet. Alistair must have bled in that place, or left any traces of blood! If you find blood, it means the case is closed"

"We'll have the proof he's asking for!"

Patricio looked from underneath his cap, grimacing. _He must know we'll find what we're looking for. Let's get this over with!_ "We want you two to investigate the cabinet those pots came from and show us your findings. That's all we need" Azalea instructed "Can you do that?"

"We can do something better!" Spots exclaimed, raising her paws in the air. A large screen descended from the ceiling, stopping in front of the door of the courtroom "We'll show you right here and now what we find, okay?"

"...I'm sure that screen wasn't up there before" Matthew commented, looking at the empty space where the screen would have positioned before. Aleksey shrugged.

"A virtual world has its perks; I guess"

"We'll hear you from here, but once we return we're not going outside again. Think carefully what you want from us" Stripes instructed before leaving with Spots. The screen turned on, showing Spots and Stripes. No one seemed to be carrying a camera, but it wasn't like it mattered much to Azalea. _Who cares how they get the image to us!_

The Kitchen was exactly like they had left it during the investigation. Joanna adjusted her glasses, watching the screen. "Look inside the cabinet, that one over there. I see the pots nearby"

"There should be blood inside unless Patricio cleaned it" Chrysanthe said.

"Then let is get them to tell us if they find signs the cabinet was cleaned" Vittoria suggested "It will be suspicious if it was cleaned recently" _She's right. No matter how this goes, Patricio should look more suspicious than before!_

"Got it! Here we go!" Spots said. Her blue paw grabbed the door of the cabinet and opened it, and the camera entered into the space to show it to everyone. Many Hostages leaned on their podiums, trying to see what was like inside. The camera turned on a light, illuminating the insides of the cabinet.

It was completely clean. Not even a single drop of blood was in sight.

"That's impossible!" Azalea shouted, her eyes wide open.

"I told you nobody hid anything there" Patricio said, crossing his arms "And there was nothing outside. I had nothing to do with that murder"

"There should be blood in there!" Dalia said, astonished.

"I get it- he cleaned it up. Look for signs that was cleaned" Kouma requested, but the camera didn't move.

"It doesn't smell like anything was cleaned. I don't think there was any blood here in the first place" Spots said. _That's impossible! That's the only place the body could be hidden at, how can there be no blood at all?!_

"It doesn't make sense. Where did we go wrong?" Dalia grabbed her braid, tugging on it with nervousness "What Azalea had said made sense, how was it wrong?"

"It's wrong because there was no body stashed there" Patricio said calmly "It's as simple as that"

"Wait, Patricio could have—he could have put something like a towel there!" Kouma suggested "Or something like that!"

"Then where was it left? Did he get rid of it when he took the body away?" Chrysanthe mused, but Patricio didn't like that. He scowled, annoyed:

"If Chrysanthe was given the benefit of the doubt because no gloves were found, I deserve the same for something that doesn't even exist! Do you think the Kitchen has abundance of towels or bedsheets anywhere?!"

"He's right. It's unlikely there was something big enough to put underneath the body" Kamiya admitted and looked at Azalea "What do you think?"

"I don't know...I'm thinking..." Azalea tried to be noncommittal, but in her mind she was frantically going through the evidence again. _How did he store the body without leaving any blood?!_

"Corpses don't bleed that much, either way"

"I have a hard time believing a freaking hole in the neck didn't bleed after his death" Aleksey said. _He's right, there should be some blood at least_. _What went wrong? There must be something we haven't thought of yet!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Video Recording / Skewer / Blue Fibers / Breakers Box / Cake_

* * *

PATRICIO: If you didn't find anything...

PATRICIO: ...you can't say I did whatever you think I did!

RUNIHURA: There must be evidence somewhere, but where?

RUNIHURA: Could Alistair simply **_not bled_** at all?

KAMIYA: It'd be easier to **_cover the wound_** itself.

KHOTSO: We...we're thinking the body was hid in the Kitchen

KHOTSO: Maybe it was **_hidden somewhere else_**

DALIA: Are we sure Alistair was dead already?

DALIA: He may have **_died later_**

PATRICIO: See? See?! Nothing shows I did anything with that body

PATRICIO: I'm not the culprit! Forget it already!

* * *

"Wait, that's it! Kamiya, you're brilliant!" Azalea said to her side. The man with the gas mask stepped back in surprise.

"I am? What? What did I say?"

"It was as simple as covering the wound so it wouldn't leave any blood, and we already have something that shows an object came in contact with the wound!" the motivator looked at Matthew "What did you say about those fibers that were on Alistair's neck?"

"The fibers—oh!" Matthew caught on what Azalea was saying "That's true! Alistair had clothing fibers on his wound. Some of them were red like scarf, but there were also blue fibers sticking to his wound!"

"Blue? So the killer pressed something blue against the wound?" Joanna tapped her chin, thinking about that.

"Alistair's suit was blue-and way more revealing than some would have liked. Not that I paid much—much attention to that" Kouma murmured, but Matthew shook his head.

"The fibers of his suit were different and shorter than those I found on his neck"

Thioro crossed his arms, looking at Patricio. "Why is everyone wondering what it is? I mean...it can be only one thing, right? Look at the man, you know what I'm talking about" _He's right, it can only be that._ Patricio didn't like how Thioro looked at him. The baker grabbed his ascot, sweating more than before.

"That's crazy! You can't really think this is it!" he shouted, shaking his head.

"Oh, but that's easy to check. If you're innocent, then there's nothing for you to be afraid of. Come on, Patricio, give that to us"

"No! I won't!"

"...ooooh, I see what she means!" Kamiya nodded slowly "Yes, that's clear now. Patricio, you should comply"

"I won't! Leave me alone already!" _He's not listening. He knows he's caught, but he won't stop fighting until there's nothing else he can do. It's over, Patricio._

* * *

 **Panic Talk Battle**

* * *

PATRICIO: That's not mine!

PATRICIO: He had a blue suit, remember?

PATRICIO: Don't look at me!

PATRICIO: He wasn't in the cabinet

PATRICIO: I didn't kill anyone!

PATRICIO: There's no proof!

PATRICIO: You're going to kill us all!

PATRICIO: Why don't you shut up already!

PATRICIO: I'm a baker, not a killer!

PATRICIO: Stop ganging up on me!

* * *

 **You're wrong. I have nothing blue on me!**

* * *

 **Blue ascot**

* * *

"If you're so sure you're innocent there should be no reason for you not to show us your ascot" Azalea said, pointing at the cloth around Patricio's neck "It's the only blue fabric you should have got access to while in the Kitchen"

"Do you really think he would be carrying with him a bloodied cloth?" Vittoria asked, skeptic, but Azalea nodded with determination.

"I'm completely certain! If he had appeared in front of us without his ascot here in the trial, we'd have asked what happened to it, especially because I remember he had it at the start of the party"

"Wait, are you saying...that blue thing he's wearing right now was around Alistair's neck once?" Joanna gasped and pointed at Patricio with the bow of her violin "That thing! He didn't have it on during the party, now I remember!"

"...what?"

"I-I did, you just don't remember right!" Patricio protested.

"Joanna is right; you didn't have it" Thioro agreed "I remember it quite well. I just thought you had left it in the Kitchen"

"You're wrong! That's just your imagination!" Patricio hesitated about grabbing his ascot, his hands hovering over it "Y-You can't prove I didn't have it during the party"

"Many of us remember you didn't. I remember that too" Matthew said, and Patricio turned his head around so fast the engineer thought he was going to snap his own neck.

"Memories can be wrong! Come on, you can't—there's no proof!"

"That's all his defense: no proof. I'm tired of hearing that" Joanna grumbled, but it didn't seem like she had anything to contribute on that regard. Azalea, deciding to get done with the trial, decided to go for the final proof.

"Patricio...it's over. Not only several of us can say that you weren't wearing your ascot during the party...I _may_ have the means to prove it, right here and now"

The baker seemed to really be considering it. He stared back at Azalea for a moment, grimacing and looking like he wanted to run away immediately, but when he finally replied it wasn't what Azalea hoped. "...no...you're bluffing. There's no way you can actually have proof..."

"...maybe I do. Let's take a look" It was time to end the trial.

* * *

Monobear File #1

Mortal Wound

Mud on the Body

Alistair's Gloves

Injection Mark

Blue Fibers

Red Scarf

Breakers Box

Wheelbarrow

Chrysanthe's Testimony

Spots' Testimony

Tracks on the Mud

The Blackout

Blood on the Bread Lobster

Cake

Pots and Pans

Skewer

Video Recording

Map of the Communal Building

File About a Past Murder

Registry

* * *

 **Video Recording**

* * *

"During the party Runihura set up the camera to record the party, remember?"

"Indeed, we know it showed a bit of what happened during the blackout" Vittoria said "Are you saying Patricio came outside during the blackout and it was recorded?"

"No, that's not what I mean. This camera didn't record just that moment. Runihura set it up not long after the bread lobster was put on the table. It was put right aside that, and it's aiming at the table on the other side. In other words:

This video camera may have recorded the moment Patricio left the cake on the table. If Patricio was wearing his ascot in that moment, then we got many things wrong, but if he wasn't...then it's over. Let's take a look"

"...that won't be necessary" The moment Azalea finished saying that, Patricio's shoulders dropped. It really was over and he knew it. After a moment he untied the blue ascot around his neck and unfolded it, showing it to everyone. There were many bloodstains on it "...I give up"

"You...you! You killed Alistair!" Runihura grasped the belts of his camera as if he feared it was going to disappear in any moment.

"...kill? It was an accident! I swear I didn't mean to kill anyone!" the baker raised his hands in defense.

"Why would we believe you about that? You lied all this time! You almost killed all of us!"

"Runihura, we should listen to him" Azalea said softly "I'm upset too, but I want to know what happened...why Alistair had to die"

"But do you really think he's going to tell the truth?" Khotso doubted. Kouma, disheartened, nodded to that question.

"I think he will. There's no sense in lying, he's—he will be executed soon. May as well tell the truth, right?"

"Fine. Why did you kill Alistair?" Lucien spat that question, looking at Patricio as if the baker was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. Patricio took off his cap, passing his hands through his hair.

"You have to believe me on this, I didn't mean to kill him. It was an accident; I wouldn't kill anyone on purpose!

It happened because Alistair turned crazy on me!"

-ooooo-

"Hey. We need to talk"

Alistair had entered the Kitchen without knocking. Patricio had just finished assembling the bread lobster and was now preparing to finish the cake. "Sure! What do you need?"

"I want you to stop the party"

The baker turned around, sighing. " _Banquet_. Did Azalea send you to ask me that? I told her the banquet shouldn't be stopped just because of a bad feeling"

"It's not a mere bad feeling. Someone could die!"

"No one will die. Haven't you thought that you and her are being...I don't know...paranoid?" Patricio raised his eyebrows when saying that. He had no more patience to deal with this, especially since it was so soon after Azalea had argued with him. All Patricio wanted was finish the big food and let people enjoy it, he didn't have time to talk about what he considered senseless paranoia.

"We're not paranoid! Azalea told me someone stole a skewer. You know what it means?"

Patricio grabbed the sugar pump and applied the tip to the cake, clutching the pump softly. "It means a skewer was lost. It doesn't mean anyone is planning to kill with it"

Alistair crossed his arms. "I don't like it. There was this group before us. Their first murder happened during a party, and the weapon—"

"It was a skewer. I know, Azalea told me already" Patricio took out the tip of the sugar pump out of the cake and cleaned it "Nothing is going to happen, Alistair. Don't look for trouble and it'll all be okay. Look at everyone outside! They're enjoying the banquet" he said and turned the cake around, sticking the sugar pump on the base.

Alistair grabbed his face with his hands, groaning loudly. Why couldn't Patricio understand? Someone was in danger, the party had to stop.

...or maybe it wasn't that Patricio didn't want to understand. What if...what if _Patricio_ was the person who was likely to murder that night? He was the person who spent the most time in the Kitchen, he'd have easy access to the skewers. If there was someone who could be ready to kill people with a skewer it was Patricio. Yes...that had to be it. That explained why Patricio refused to stop the party. That'd have ruined his plans! "It's you. You want to kill somebody"

"Sorry, what?" Patricio didn't really pay attention, focused on what he was doing.

"You plan to murder somebody tonight! I see now! That's why you refuse to look at the warning signs!"

Patricio took out the sugar pump from the cake and turned around. "Have you gone _insane_?"

"Then explain it to me! Why won't you stop the party? Give me a good reason!"

"Because we can't live with the fear of what may happen or may not happen! There are many different reasons why someone could have taken a skewer. It doesn't mean anyone is going to die!

I'm the leader, Alistair. I know what I'm talking about. Everything will be okay, Azalea and you need to relax and enjoy the banquet"

Alistair cracked his knuckles and extended his gloves fully, making sure he'd have no trouble with them. "I'm sorry. We can't take any risks"

"W-What? What are you going to do?"

"I'll subdue you. Once the party is over I'll let you go"

Patricio stepped back, the fingers of his hand curling around the rigid part of the sugar pump. "You're crazy. You can't just do that!"

"I'm sorry if you weren't planning to kill, but it's what needs to be done. I want to protect them! I'll protect everyone!"

-ooooo-

"That idiot...he almost jumped on me! He grabbed me from my shoulders, trying to throw me to the floor!" Patricio was teary-eyed, recounting his version of the events "I didn't understand why he thought I was going to hurt anyone, I just wanted to be left alone...so I tried to punch him"

"How did you end stabbing him?" Elaine was listening with impassive expression, as if she was listening to someone talk about their everyday life and not about how they had accidentally killed someone.

Patricio rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "I tried to punch him, but I didn't notice I still had the sugar pump in my hand. I punched with all my strength, and the rigid tip of the sugar pump must have pointing towards him...

...when I realized Alistair wasn't holding him anymore he was clutching his neck! There was so much blood...! He was gasping for breath; I didn't know what to do! I...I-I-I saw him die right in front of my eyes!" Patricio's voice sounded hysterical "I put the body in the cabinet and cleaned the blood, I just knew I wanted the body to be far away from me, I wanted nothing to do with that!"

"You looked very calm to me when you were taking the food to the Dining Hall"

Patricio looked at her with fury. "Of course I was! I-I—I wanted to make a party! I just wanted everyone to get along, I wanted to show off with what I could do, I didn't start any of that to kill someone!" he pointed accusatorily at Azalea "It was you! Alistair and you ruined it!

If you had let everything continue as well as it was going no one would have died. No one was going to die! Why couldn't you two calm down and believe nothing would happen?!"

"...we just wanted to prevent a death..." Azalea replied back, but her voice lacked conviction. She was horrified that the efforts Alistair and her had done to prevent a death had been what led to Alistair's demise. Had they really gone way more paranoid than was needed?

"Why didn't you confess earlier? If I had been voted guilty we'd all have died" Chrysanthe said, not without compassion. Patricio buried his face in his hands, ashamed.

"I'm scared. I don't want to die; I didn't want to die earlier either! I don't want to die...please, don't let that bear kill me!"

"Does it look to you like you have any say on this?"

Spots had approached and said that, standing behind Patricio with Stripes. "What do you say, Monobear?"

"I say it's time for the vote! Everyone press the button with the name of the person you think is the culprit. The culprit's identity is no mystery now, how lame is that?" Monobear grabbed a mallet from beside his throne "Come on, look alive, everyone! This may be the last time a few of you will ever look alive!" In a matter of seconds everyone inputted their votes. As expected, the majority voted for Patricio "Look at that, the guy who tearfully confessed turned out to be the culprit. That was anticlimactic"

"You don't need to execute him. He didn't even mean to kill Alistair!" Elaine protested, finally leaving aside her rather neutral attitude while listening to the confession "This can't be fair!"

"The rules are absolute. The killer will be executed" Kamiya said to her.

"I know what the rules say, but Monobear has the last word. If he decides to not do it then it'll be okay"

"I don't think Monobear would let us go without an execution" Azalea muttered, as much as she hated to admit it, the trial had to end with Patricio's death. Patricio had realized it too quite some time before, but that didn't stop him from approaching Monobear.

"Have mercy, please! I beg you, don't kill me!"

Monobear leaned his head on his paw as if he was actually considering it. "What a dilemma...but nope! Sorry, 'mercy' is not a family value for any bear" he flicked his other paw towards Patricio. At that sign, Stripes and Spots jumped on Patricio, tackling him to the floor. Spots pulled out a large pair of handcuffs – thick black handcuffs with a futuristic design - out of nowhere and snapped them on Patricio's wrists, making the baker wince in pain.

"Ouch!"

"It's time, everyone!" Monobear started saying. Seeing that the trial was closing, Vittoria decided to go ahead and ask something she had been wondering for a while already.

"Patricio, how does the injection wound fit in anything? What did you do to Alistair?"

The baker went silent and stopped thrashing, looking away. "...I don't know what you're talking about. Uh, yeah, that's it. I know nothing"

"What do you mean you know nothing about it-?"

"No talking to the criminal!" Stripes chastised, standing on Patricio's head and forcing his head on the floor "Get going with it already, Monobear!"

"It's time...time for the execution. A special execution for...for..." Monobear suddenly went completely silent. Everyone stared at him with shock, not understanding why the bear had suddenly stopped talking. After a minute or so he continued, though "It's time for a special punishment, designed for the Super High School Level Baker, Patricio Beltrán!"

"Wait! I tell you, please wait!" Patricio pleaded, but Monobear didn't listen, slamming with the mallet the button in front of his podium.

"Let's give it everything we got! Take a good look, everyone, at the execution I made specially for him!"

The handcuffs on Patricio's wrists beeped. He managed to look at them right before the floor opened underneath him. Everyone heard Patricio's scream. The large screen the bailiffs had left in the courtroom earlier turned on again, showing Patricio falling into a black void.

* * *

 **Celebration Cake**

* * *

 _Suddenly, the lights turned on and Patricio crashed against a very soft and creamy surface. Once the handcuffs disengaged, he managed to stand up, extending his arms to the side to stay regain his balance. He slowly sank until he was up to his knees in the goopy cover of the floor, time he used to look around. There were swirls of cream and fondant spread nearby, as well as strawberries much larger than him. Patricio looked around, confused but started walking around. Was this...a cake? Really? The advantages of this being a virtual world were notable, but how was this supposed to kill him? He had stopped sinking._

 _As if it all was waiting for Patricio to start wondering, something started descending very slowly from the black void above the cake until it was visible enough. Humongous guillotine blades were suspended above, looking prepared to sink into the pastry. Patricio mouthed a cuss and immediately tried to move away, right when a blade fell just a few away, slicing the cake with ease. A strawberry was hit too, being cut in half in a ludicrous explosion of pink liquid Patricio was sure was meant to be a threat towards him._

 _It was immensely difficult to move through the fondant and cream. The baker had to raise his legs and move forward as fast as possible, the blades were getting closer and faster every second, shrinking down the surface available. Bits of cream splashed around, blinding Patricio and making him try to hurry even more. Beyond the cake there was absolutely nothing, he had no way to escape. In a move of desperation, he started climbing one of the strawberries, getting on top, holding onto it so hard the pink juice from the strawberry leaked between his fingers._

 _The cake had been reduced to a hexagonal platform just a few meters wide, the blades above moved until all of them were in a setting that guaranteed at least one would hit Patricio and end his life. The baker breathed with difficulty, closed his eyes and gave up, letting go of the strawberry and falling on the cream. He sank, mercifully out of sight of the Hostages, right when all the guillotine blades descended for one last time, two right on where Patricio had sunk. Blood splashed outside, staining the cream. It was over._

* * *

Azalea had averted her eyes when Patricio had sunk in the cream, not wanting to see what was sure to be a foregone conclusion. Indeed, judging by the reactions of the rest of the Hostages, the baker was dead. Gasps of horror echoed in the room. Many of the Hostages turned towards Monobear, demanding an explanation and asking why the execution had to be so cruel.

"What was that?! You killed him like it was a...a...a show!" Khotso stammered, looking as if he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"I thought the executions were going to be a lot more tasteful than this!" Dalia shouted "This is _sadism_!"

"This is wrong, so wrong...what's wrong with you all..." Thioro murmured, looking at Monobear with disgust "What are you all trying to gain with this?!"

"Why are all of you so unhappy? It's obvious, isn't it?" Monobear waved a paw, showing absolutely no concern over everyone's outrage "The executions are meant to be the high point of a trial! And they're fun to watch, too. Didn't you feel your hearts pounding?"

"Shut up! Shut up already!" Dalia covered her ears and went away towards the door of the courtroom. Soon the courtroom was emptied while Monobear continued laughing, having enjoyed the execution.

"Remember, everyone! Don't screw up or the next execution you'll witness will be _your_ execution! Have fun! Gyahahaha!"

-ooooo-

Azalea stayed in a corner during the train journey back to Heavenly Resort. She didn't want to talk to anyone. The trial had been rather stressful, and as much as she hated to admit it, they all had been at serious risk of death. If the accusation against Chrysanthe had been unchallenged they'd all be dead and Patricio would have been freed from the virtual world. She hated to think that Patricio would have been content to leave despite how it meant everyone else's death. It also didn't help that Alistair had died because of their wish to stop any death from happening. Would everything have gone better if they hadn't tried to stop Patricio? _I should stop thinking about this. Why can't I stop thinking about it?_

"Azalea?" Runihura approached, scratching the side of his face "Are you okay?"

"...I think I am" Azalea said glumly "I just...all that happened is too much for me"

Runihura nodded. "If it makes you feel better I think you saved our life. I wouldn't have ever guessed Patricio was the killer"

"...that doesn't really make me feel better. It was my fault that Alistair died...I wish I hadn't thought about trying to stop the party. I just...I wish I had acted differently. Then Alistair would be alive"

"You can't know that. You know what I think? If Patricio hadn't ended killing Alistair, someone else would have died. Remember that file you talked about and the skewer that went missing? Those can't have been coincidences"

"He's right, Lea" Chrysanthe approached "I think you were onto something there"

"And what about the injection wound? That didn't get solved either"

"...is this how mysteries are supposed to go? I thought at the end everything would be neatly solved..."

Azalea crossed her arms. They were right, there was an unexpected number of questions yet to be answered. "Yeah, that's true...You know what's the problem here? That injection wasn't done through the glove. Alistair or someone took off his glove and applied it, and then put it back. We can't know for sure when that all was done" in that moment the train arrived to the station in Heavenly Resort. All the Hostages started walking towards the cottages, intending to rest after the tiring and stressing night they had experienced. It was the kind of thing they hoped they wouldn't have to go through again, but chances were that it'd happen again, wouldn't it? Who'd be the next victim? Who'd be the next one to kill? There must be some way to stop it...or at least discourage murder...

Taking a decision, Azalea mumbled she wanted to go to the Petting Zoo for a moment. Along the way Chrysanthe separated from them. "I want to start growing some roses. Alistair once told me he liked roses, so...I want to grow some in his honor" while Chrysanthe went to the Garden, Runihura and Azalea entered the building to go to the Petting Zoo.

"What are you planning to do?" the videographer asked to Azalea while they were crossing the Dining Hall. All the tables were back on their places; all remains of Patricio's party were gone, the vending machines were back in their places. It was as if nothing had happened.

"I told everyone about the files, so I'm now going to get rid of them. I want no one to get ideas from them" Spots and Stripes were already behind their counter as if they had never left it. Before Azalea could ask them to give the keycard, Stripes passed it over the counter without saying a word. "Uh, thanks" Azalea took the keycard with her fingertips and carried it to the gate that led to the second floor, swiping it quickly as if she expected this to be a trap.

"How are you going to get rid of those files?"

"I don't know. I'll take them out and burn them, I suppose" The second floor was just like she had seen it last time "You'll need your key. Insert it in this hole here"

"Wait, I get it! That's how you knew someone had read the files! Somebody's name was registered due to our keys, right?"

"Yeah, that's what happened" Azalea didn't waste any time, she quickly located the files and took them "The registry is over there, but there's an ink stain on the screen. We can't read the unknown name"

Runihura stared at the screen for a moment before slowly giving a request to Azalea. "Hey. Insert your key again"

"What? What for?"

"I want to try something" he said. Azalea wasn't sure what Runihura was planning, but it didn't hurt to try. She inserted her key and withdrew it immediately "Do it again" he instructed, so she obeyed. "Done! And the name is..." the videographer went silent.

"Who is it?"

"...I don't know. Who _is_ this person?"

Azalea hurried to get to the registry to see by herself who the person who had read the files was. Runihura's requests had a simple objective: force the names to move upwards until the unknown name wasn't underneath the ink stain. It was such a simple way to solve the problem Azalea would later kick herself for not having thought of it, but for the moment that wasn't what was in her mind. She had read the name in the screen. _What? Who's this supposed to be? What's going on in this place?_

 **Sigrun Solheim**

-ooooo-

Akane drummed her fingers against the console, holding her head with one hand. She could feel a headache settling in. A trial had happened and honestly it was something she'd have preferred not to see again, but there was no other option. She wasn't the only one who had trouble with the trial. Toyotomi stared at the screen all the time with uncomfortable expression, and although Yamaguchi played her role of Monobear well enough the few times the bear had to speak, she wasn't able to go ahead with the execution.

The closer the trial got to execution time the paler Yamaguchi got, but she continued sitting at her console ready to do what she needed to do. The moment she had to announce it was time to execute the culprit she wasn't able to continue, though. Yamaguchi stumbled on her words, breathing hard and swallowing way more often than necessary. "It's time...time for the execution. A special execution for...for..." suddenly she stood up and walked away "I can't do it. I can't say it"

"Yamaguchi-san..." Akane approached, but Yamaguchi got away from her.

"I can't press the button and send anyone to be executed! That's—doesn't this bring bad memories to you? To any of you?!"

Akane turned her head around and looked at Mitsuhiko. The hunter understood the implicit request, he sat at Yamaguchi's console and started the execution, providing the input for Monobear. "Of course it does, Yamaguchi-san, but..." Akane frowned "...it's not like we have any other choice"

"There has to be some other way!"

"If you want you can retire from this all. That'd be okay, we don't want you to force yourself to do something you don't want to do"

"...I don't know what I want to do. Akane, this is too horrible. I don't know how we're able t-t-to do all this..." Yamaguchi slid down the wall to the floor. Trying to provide some comfort, Akane sat beside her and passed her arm over her friend's shoulders, pulling her closer.

"Yamaguchi-san, I admit I'm not happy with this either. But if it works then it's over, the Tragedy will end. We have to be strong"

Hikasa opened the pod that held Patricio, disconnected the cables and machines that hooked the person inside to the pod, and lifted the body with ease. Patricio wasn't moving at all. Hikasa walked out with the body, not even saying a word to anyone. Not that it was needed, everybody in the room knew what Hikasa was going to do.

"...I hate that all that innocent people are going to have the same bad memories than us...all those d-deaths, the blood, th-the trials...all that...the longer they live the worse it'll be..." Yamaguchi passed her hand over her face "It doesn't get any easier, Akane! It's always as horrible as the first time! Having to see people near you get killed, the bodies, the bl-blood—it's _always_ awful!"

"I know" Akane hugged Yamaguchi a bit tighter with her arm "I know how that feels. Yamaguchi-san...no, Mika-san, you don't have to continue. No one will protest or try to hold you here against your will if you decide to get out of this project" Yamaguchi seemed to be genuinely considering getting out of the group and its responsibilities, but after a minute of thinking Yamaguchi shoopk her head.

"No. I'll...I'll stay to the end. I have to face what we all went through, and this is a way to do it. I-It'll be difficult but...but I have to do it"

"If it makes you feel better you can swap places with me. I can be Monobear, you can be Spots—"

"I'll continue being Monobear" Yamaguchi raised her voice a bit "I can do it. I think I can...thanks, Akane" she smiled weakly "I needed to say all that"

"Anytime, Mika-san. We're friends, you can trust in all of us" Akane looked at all the pods. There were fourteen people left in them "...we'll need to be strong. This all is just starting"

-ooooo-

The night was peaceful.

At some point during the night, in three different cabins, their occupants stirred without waking up. Their hands clenched and unclenched, their faces went blank. After a moment the three of them sat up on their beds pretty much at the same time but couldn't continue from there. The three fell back on their pillows and continued sleeping.

The next morning, none of them remembered that.


	10. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart I

It was a bit hard to believe that two of the Hostages were gone. Breakfast time was rather subdued. Patricio and Alistair's absences were rather notorious, given their personalities and conversations during the mornings, now gone forever. Alistair used to have such a cheery disposition he went unnoticed during the meals, while Patricio always had something to share with everyone, freshly made and always delicious. Without them, the meal was gloomier than anyone was used it to be.

"...am I the only one who feels like—like there's this big empty space here?" Kouma muttered, looking at the empty chairs.

"I admit they used to make this livelier" Lucien said, keeping his eyes on his food "It's going to be different without them here"

"I can't believe it all happened like that. Would it have been better if Patricio had been a murderous asshole?" Matthew asked, having taken off his gloves and lifted the lens out of his face.

"What do you mean?"

"If he had been a monstrous bastard we wouldn't be feeling as bad, right?" the engineer put on his lens, not daring to look at everyone "...right?"

"...shut up, Matthew" Thioro muttered "That's not the kind of thing you should be saying"

"Sorry. Christ, this is stressing"

A very uncomfortable silence fell on the table. Azalea leaned her head on her hand, looking at everyone. No one seemed to be in mood to do anything. They couldn't all continue moping, though, everyone knew that. That was why Matthew started talking again.

"Since Patricio was our leader and now he is...well, who's going to be the leader now?"

"Do we even need a leader?"

"It'd help. We'd have someone to look up to, someone who can help us. How about that?"

"Matthew is right; it could be good to have a leader" Dalia looked at every Hostage before focusing on Azalea "How about you? You did a good job at the trial"

"Me? I don't think I'd be a good leader" Azalea said, tucking strands of her hair behind her ears.

"Why not? I agree with Dalia; you have skills we need. Besides you're the SHSL Motivator. Who better than you to be the leader?" Runihura smiled in what he thought was an encouraging smile, but Azalea felt more like something was twisting her guts. She refrained from scowling, instead sighing.

"I don't feel prepared to be the leader of anything" Azalea said with a very blunt tone "Someone else do it"

"But—"

"Besides my title is stupid. I'm no motivator! Come on, have I managed to motivate anyone here at all?"

Vittoria nodded. "The first day you did manage to inspire us. In my opinion, you have potential to be a good motivator"

"You helped me while I was feeling down during the investigation, Lea!" Chrysanthe smiled kindly, although Elaine looked at the gardener with reluctant expression before turning her attention back to Azalea.

"You rallied us in Chrysanthe's favor, and against Patricio" the writer added "Believe it or not, you have the power to get people to follow you. Isn't that what being a motivator and a leader is all about?"

Azalea shook her head. "Sorry, I don't feel ready to be the leader. I'd be willing to play second banana, but I don't want to be the leader. Someone else do it" Nobody tried to argue with her, understanding her decision was final. Seeing that Azalea was adamant on not taking the helm of leadership, Vittoria sighed and stood up.

"Since Azalea does not want to be our leader, I shall take the role"

Aleksey didn't seem convinced. He rooted through the pockets of his trench coat, not even bothering to look at Vittoria "You think you're ready for this?" Vittoria turned her head towards him, her visible eye narrowing to a thin line. The thief hid his face into his trench coat, cowed.

"I have been in charge of a criminal empire that operates in every country in Europe and is starting to expand into other continents as well. You do not have to worry, _Aleksey_ " The lack of honorific she usually used when talking to other people hinted very well how annoyed she was at him.

"Fine, I get it"

"Any objections to me being the leader?" Nobody protested. Vittoria was officially the new leader of the group.

"You better not kill anyone" Dalia said, pointing at her.

"Do not fret, I do not intend to kill any of you, not even in self-defense. You can be sure of that"

"So what's your first order, oh criminal leader?" Lucien's words were mocking and kind of infantile, but his expression didn't show any disdain "Do you want us to vandalize stuff around?"

Vittoria put her hand on her chest, feigning shock "Heavens, no! That would be petty. Let is be productive and start an exploration of our surroundings. Have any of you noticed one of the buildings is doors are wide open now?"

"...really?" Kamiya sounded bewildered, and he wasn't the only one.

"Yes. It is not particularly notorious, but I think I saw that" the heiress gestured towards the door of the communal building "We should find out if that is the only change in the resort. There is always a chance other places have opened" Vittoria started organizing teams to explore different areas in the resort. Even though she had been just taken the leader mantle, she was already taking her role with seriousness and skill. _Why didn't she try to be the leader since the beginning?_

Azalea was assigned to explore the newly opened building alongside Khotso and Joanna. After they were done with their breakfast the three went towards one of the marble buildings surrounding the plaza. "I think it's the one over there..." Khotso trailed off, pointing at the open doors "There was police tape all over the doors before, right?"

"Yes, I remember that. The NPCs had said it wasn't ready yet"

"So it's a coincidence it's ready after that horrible trial?"

Azalea looked at Khotso. "Do you really think it's no coincidence?"

"Well...maybe?"

"I think Khotso is onto something here. It's suspicious this building is ready after the trial" Joanna entered "If no other places are open then he's right and this is a reward for surviving a murder trial"

The motivator's face curled in disgust. Really? This was a reward for Alistair and Patricio's deaths? "They wouldn't dare!"

"They kidnapped us. Giving us a prize for surviving wouldn't be out of character for them" Joanna turned on the light, revealing what place this was.

It was a rather large library. Rows and rows of three-meter tall shelves filled to the brim with books welcomed them, right beyond a tall steel fence no one could climb. The only way inside was through a stone arch decorated with statues of Spots and Stripes holding it, and Monobear's head right in the center of the arch. "Gaudy"

"Wow...look at all these books!" Khotso's eyes were shining. He was the first to cross the arch, arriving to a small study area. There were a few laptops there, lined up in a neat row. They were all chained so nobody could take them away "Do you think these computers work"

"Even if they do we can't contact anyone" despite her pessimism, Joanna sat in front of a computer and turned it on. Indeed, the functions of the computer were rather limited. In the desktop was a single folder, titled 'COMING SOON'. It was empty.

"Did you know that ancient libraries sometimes have secret passages?" Azalea pulled out a random book, reading the title. It was a technical book about chemistry, apparently meant to be for a school.

"But this is not a real world...if there are any passages they can just...seal it off or make it so we can't reach it" Khotso pointed.

Joanna joined them. "There must be something about this library we can tell everyone, but it seems pretty normal to me. Maybe there's something in one of the books"

"...you don't think just one of these books has secrets we should find, right?" There were thousands of books, it would take forever to check every single one!

"Surely they'd want us to make an effort, but this'd be too much" Azalea took out another book. It was about medical techniques "Hmmm...do you think we can take out books from here?"

"Let's try" Joanna took the book Azalea had in her hands and walked towards the stone arch. She went through it effortlessly "Guess there's nothing stopping any of us from taking books outside of the Library"

"Does that really matter?" Khotso mumbled, climbing one of the shelves to take a look over the top of the furniture. There was nothing other than dust and spiders.

The Library didn't have anything special besides the laptops and its 'COMING SOON' folder. The books represented a way for everyone to kill time, but it was hardly useful for anything else. A quick search of the whole place showed that unless they started checking every single book – it was a staggeringly ridiculous amount of books, that'd take _weeks_! – there was nothing to be done. "We did what we had to do, let's get going already" Joanna recommended, stepping towards the stone arch.

"Wait! Um..." _I should ask, just in case..._ That name in the registry was still in Azalea's mind. She had been thinking about it for quite some time already but she still had no idea who that could be "Have you guys ever heard of Sigrun Solheim?"

"...no...I don't think I have...is that an author?" Khotso tilted his head.

"I don't know. I read the name somewhere"

"It doesn't sound familiar" Joanna said after a pause "But we could try parsing a bit of information from the name. It sounds European...most likely from Norway or Finland"

"Aren't people from there usually blond with blue eyes?" Khotso looked at Joanna, who huffed and closed her eyes.

"I may be blonde and I may have blue eyes, but that doesn't make me Norwegian. I'm Brazilian. Anyway, 'Sigrun' is definitely a Norse name"

"How do you know that?" Azalea inquired. That sure was a lot of detailed information about something not many would know in detail!

"My parents wanted me to be cultured, that involved a lot of trivia. Can I finish my train of thought?" after Khotso and Azalea apologized for their interruptions, Joanna continued "Anyway, I know that Sigrun has roots in Norse mythology. It's the name of a Valkyrie, and it means 'victory'. I don't think that Valkyrie was particularly notorious, though...?" _Victory...it can't be..._ No, it was too obvious. Vittoria couldn't be Sigrun Solheim, could she? Someone choosing a fake name wouldn't pick one that resembled their real name, right? That'd defeat the purpose of having a fake name in the first place.

Or perhaps it was expected one would think that and not suspect her? _Ugh, I don't want to get into an endless loop of reverse psychology. So what if anyone is using a fake name? Does that really matter?_

"What about Solheim?"

"'Sol' means sun. Other than that I don't recall anything special about it"

"Why are you mentioning that name, by the way?" Khotso asked. Azalea started scratching the nail of her thumb, unsure what to say. Should she tell that this Sigrun person may have read the files about the past cases? Did it really change much? Sigrun having read them didn't have anything to do with Alistair's murder, so...

"I just read it somewhere. Sorry, it's no big deal"

"If it were no big deal you wouldn't have mentioned it" Joanna opened one eye "Are you hiding something from us?"

"No! I saw it in one of the books, I swear"

"Then I suppose you'd have no problem showing us where's that book, right?"

"Joanna, I—"

"If it's important we should...you know...tell the rest" Khotso stammered "They'll know what to do"

"We don't need to do that! It's nothing important, really" Azalea smiled unconvincingly "I know it's nothing, trust me on that" _It may be for the better that I try to find information by myself. We'll see..._

-ooooo-

"It is time for a report. What did we find?" Vittoria had gathered everyone at the Monobear statues, ready to listen to the newly gathered information. The heiress was sitting on the pedestal of the statues, with one leg crossed over the other. She seemed to be enjoying the leader role, judging from the smirk on her face "Shall we start? If you may, Lady Azalea, please start"

"We found a Library" Azalea informed "But there's nothing special about it. Just a lot of books and a few laptops"

"There could be something in those computers. Did you check?" Thioro asked.

"We did. There was literally nothing in them"

"It wouldn't have been useful, either way. We had no way to contact the outside world" Kamiya looked up to the center Monobear's face "Unless those computers somehow control something in this world"

"They wouldn't leave something like that in the Library!" Kouma protested. _She's not mistaken about that, I guess_ "It'd be like – where the admins stay, not over there"

"Or in Monobear's office" Runihura said "That place hasn't changed at all. Monobear doesn't reply to anything yet"

"My group found a storage room over there" Elaine pointed in direction to one of the formerly closed buildings "It has pretty much anything you can imagine. Food, items, there even were power tools in there!"

"Someone could kill with those...we should get rid of them" Chrysanthe suggested, but no one seemed to be particularly willing to do that. Lucien coughed.

"Just because they could be used for murder it doesn't mean we should lock it all away. Besides, we can't trust anyone enough to give them access to potential weapons"

Matthew frowned. "Not even our leader?"

"Not even her" he turned his head towards Vittoria "No offense, dear leader"

"None taken, Sir Balboa"

"Whatever, my group found something too. Dalia?" Lucien pointed behind the statue "Let's present our finding"

Dalia nodded and went behind the pedestal. A few seconds later, she came from behind it riding a bicycle. _...that's not what I thought anyone would find_ "There are bicycles in the Stadium now! We counted twenty, more than enough for everyone!"

Everyone waited for a moment, expecting Lucien or Dalia to add something else, but neither of them said anything else. "Nothing else changed in the Stadium? That is...a random addition to our surroundings" Vittoria got off the pedestal and examined the bike "Sir Balboa, Lady Roble, please check the bikes and try to see if there are any anomalies. It may not be as simple as it seems at first sight"

"What kind of anomalies can _bikes_ have?" Lucien didn't seem very happy about having to examine every single bike again.

"I do not know, but we can not be content with a mediocre examination of these recent developments. We need as much information as possible"

"Fine. I'll do it" he mumbled, walking in direction to the Stadium.

It didn't take long. Soon it was clear nothing would be found on the bikes. They were completely normal, and had no additions or strange elements. _Why bikes, and why now? Is it just a simple reward or is it a hint or...I think I may be overthinking a bit._

Chrysanthe frowned. "All in all it doesn't seem like we found anything useful anywhere. What now?"

Vittoria adjusted her gloves, thinking for a moment. "Let is all continue with our lives the best we can. Keep your eyes open and report anything strange you find around. At some point a motive should be given to all us, so let is wait and see what is the kidnappers is next move. Any objections?"

At that moment, Joanna and Khotso looked at Azalea. The motivator looked away, knowing very well what those two were waiting for. _No, I don't have enough stuff to tell everyone about it yet_. She didn't want to cause any trouble without having a clear idea of what it could mean. Better to not bother everyone with what could amount to nothing. That Sigrun person may be a complete enigma for the moment, but was it an important enigma? That's what she wasn't sure about.

Since nobody protested about ending the meeting there, Vittoria proclaimed there was nothing else to talk about for the day and walked away. Soon Azalea was left alone in the Monobear plaza. No Hostage would know anything about Sigrun, or at least it seemed very unlikely. Only someone with a certain amount of power and control over this world would know. That left only three options, and Azalea definitely wasn't going to ask Monobear. Only two options remained.

"...there's no way the NPCs will say a word about this Sigrun person" she said to herself. If there was someone who could know about it, it'd be them, the problem was how willing they'd be to share any information with her. What if this Sigrun had something to do with the NPCs? Or if it was the name of one of the kidnappers? That'd mean they'd give no information at all.

But it was worth a try.

-ooooo-

 _Do they ever move from there?_

Spots and Stripes were once again sitting behind the desk, as if they never moved from their spot. They didn't even turn their heads when Azalea entered, only when she stood in front of the desk they reacted. "Make it quick" Stripes grumbled, sounding sleepy.

"Do you need to sleep?" _Wait, what kind of question did I just blurt out?!_

Stripes was more amused than Azalea expected. The sewed-on smile on his face didn't change, but Azalea had the impression it widened a bit. "We're computer software, what do you think?"

"We don't need to rest. You'll find us here 24/7" Spots said. Azalea nodded, unsure if this really was useful for anything, and decided to take the leap.

"Do any of you know about someone called Sigrun Solheim?"

The admins looked at each other before shaking their heads. "The name doesn't sound familiar. Where did you see it?" Spots asked.

"Upstairs, in the registry about who has checked the files" Azalea leaned on the counter "That technology scans our keys and registers who has entered there, so it wouldn't be a stretch to think one of us sixteen is Sigrun Solheim. Am I right?"

"The logic is sound" Stripes conceded.

"Any chance of finding out which one of them is Sigrun?"

"You tell me. Spots and I know nothing. If you want to find out, it'll be up to you"

Azalea narrowed her eyes. "That's it? You won't try to stop me or anything?"

Spots shook her head. "I hope you know what you're doing...we'll watch over you, but you should remember you may be wandering into uncharted territory.

You can't know right now if you'll regret what you'll find"

That was a rather ominous statement, and for a moment Azalea felt like everything had gotten chilly. What was going on? Who could that Sigrun Solheim person be that warranted such warning? Was it related to the reason why they all had been kidnapped? If it was related to the kidnapping, why did the NPCs let her do whatever she wanted about it?

 _There's something odd going on and I don't know if I like it or not. Maybe I should think it twice before trying to find out more..._

* * *

 **Free Time is coming! If there's a specific character you'd like to read about, message me or leave a review/comment about it.**


	11. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart II

There was nothing else to do other than waiting. Sooner or later Monobear was going to present a motive. What would he use now to get them to kill? Their memories again? It wasn't like the kidnappers had access to a variety of motives. Everyone knew this was a virtual world, anything they could be given in here would be no more than a fake, and it was unlikely anyone would simply trust any prizes they could be given in the real world. Most rewards wouldn't work at all. What could they use as leverage other than their memories?

Those were Azalea's thoughts while she met with Kamiya. They had planned to check one of the new places and make some sort of inventory, know what kind of items there were available. The silence during their walk forced Azalea to think about the possible motives, so in an attempt to distract herself, she chose to talk about any random topic.

"Do you think we'll ever find out why we were kidnapped?" Azalea asked. She didn't mind Kamiya's presence, the guy was intelligent and she liked that, although talking with someone who always wore a mask made her a bit uncomfortable.

"We'll never find out. That's the kind of thing we should have been told from the beginning" Kamiya's gas mask lenses fogged up "They may not even have a reason"

"But there must be something they want. What if..." the motivator tried to think the most outlandish example she could imagine "What if they want you to make some sort of life elixir for them?"

Kamiya made a weird noise, confused. "Force me to make life elixir?"

"Yeah, we may be held hostage until we agree to do something for them. That's the most likely possibility, right?"

"And what'd they want you to do? Cheer the rest of us while we commit crimes for the kidnappers?"

 _That was a bit rude of you_. Azalea frowned, a bit uncomfortable, and shrugged "Sure, why not? They think I'm a good motivator, I can do that"

"They're not the only ones to think that. I still think you should have been our leader" Kamiya said. Azalea couldn't see it directly, but she was sure behind the mask there was a smile. The storage was in the distance; they'd arrive soon "If the kidnappers want me to do some concoction for them then they'll be disappointed. Azalea, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure!" _Although I'm sure the kidnappers will hear you_ That was the problem with virtual reality, there was no way they wouldn't find out, if they didn't know already, that is. Kamiya stuck his hands deep into the pockets of his lab coat, looking at the ground.

"I'm not that good of a pharmacist. I know the basics and all, but I don't think I have the expertise the kidnappers think I do" he tilted his head "I'm like you in that regard! You don't think you're a motivator, I don't think I'm as good of a pharmacist as some think I am"

"But how would they not know you're not useful?" It was hard to believe they'd make such oversight. Pharmaceutical knowledge wasn't something as vague as 'being motivational', either one had it or one didn't have it.

"Why do you ask me? I don't know!" he took out of his pocket a bottle of flower preserver "I could tell you what this is made of, but I couldn't tell you how it worked. See what I mean?"

"Fine, I see. Why are you carrying that, anyways?"

Kamiya winked, his eye barely visible behind the tinted lens of the mask "Hey, just because I'm not the best pharmacist ever it doesn't mean I can't try to start getting there! I'm young, there's a lot of time to learn more and more! Don't you want to learn something, Azalea?"

Azalea thought for a moment "I'd like to learn gardening, like Chrys"

"Then do it! You have time, try to learn that" Kamiya was starting to sound rather enthusiastic, his voice a bit distorted by the mask "The best things in life are found by learning, Azalea! Pick a subject and have fun!"

So that was what kind of person Kamiya was...it was a bit what Azalea had expected, but it was nice to confirm it, nonetheless.

The two approached the storage, climbing the stairs towards it, but when they tried to enter they couldn't pass through the threshold. Azalea crashed against it face-first, making her stumble and almost fall down the stairs. Luckily for her, Kamiya caught her. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine" Azalea rubbed her face, touching her nose to find out if it was broken "...what happened? Is there an invisible wall here?"

Kamiya slowly brought his hands forward until they collided against the invisible wall. He pushed, the wall not budging an inch. "There's something here. If this is a wall there may be a door too" Between the two of them they started touching the wall, trying to find a door or a window, but there was nothing like that. While they were starting to consider making one stand on the other to try to get over it, Spots appeared from the inside of the Storage, waving at them.

"Hello! Sorry for the trouble, you can't enter for now" the chevrotain said, sounding sickeningly sweet. Azalea frowned.

"Why? What's going on inside?"

"We made a little mistake. This place shouldn't have opened for another week, so we're replacing it with the place that should have been available this week"

"So these _are_ rewards for surviving trials!" Azalea pointed accusingly.

"Exactly. Each time there'll be more places for you to enjoy"

"Spots, what are you doing? I need help to move this!" Stripes' voice sounded from inside, the sound of something heavy scraping against the floor. Spots looked back for a moment.

"Uh, so that's what we're doing. We're sorry, this is the first time we have used a virtual world"

Kamiya pushed against the invisible wall again. "You sounded very sure there's going to be another trial" he said, his voice strained from the effort.

"Of course there's going to be another trial. That's what happens after a murder"

"And why'd anyone kill again? Who'd want to get executed?" Azalea crossed her arms, not really believing in what she just had said. It was naïve to think that just because Patricio had suffered a horrible death, any potential killers would think it twice and not kill anyone. It was more likely that any future culprits simply would be more careful to not leave any evidence that could point at them. It all depended on the motive, in her opinion.

Maybe Spots would have a grin like Monobear's if that frown wasn't sewed on her face. "We have a motive prepared, and I'm sure a few of you will consider murder seriously once you hear it. In fact..." she turned around "Monobear? What about giving the motive now?"

Monobear's voice sounded from inside the building. "Upupupu...sure, why not? Let me drop this—" a loud thud echoed out, like something rather large was suddenly dropped on the floor.

"H-Hey! Watch it, you stupid bear!" Stripes protested uselessly, because Monobear completely ignored him, exiting the building and passing through the invisible wall with ease.

"Let's get this show on the road! Follow me!" Suddenly Monobear's voice sounded from everywhere "Everyone gather in the Plaza! It's time for a motive, brought to you from yours truly!" he shouted, walking towards the Monobear Plaza. Kamiya and Azalea awkwardly stared at him walking away, and glanced at each other.

"...I should have kept my mouth shut" Azalea mumbled. Kamiya shrugged.

"It was matter of time before he gave the motive, you just made it happen faster. Let's get done with it"

When Kamiya and Azalea got to the plaza, everyone was already there. Just like the last time, Monobear was standing on the base of the statues, looking at the gathered Hostages with satisfaction. "Since your two friends over there were so excited about the new motive, I'm going to reveal it right now! Let's give them a round of applause!"

"...you're incapable of not being obnoxious, aren't you?" Joanna spat at Monobear, although from her glance at Azalea she concluded the violinist wasn't very happy with her.

"Whatever. Last time I threatened to erase your memories, so I'm sure you'll be happy to know that was a one-time threat. Your pretty little heads will stay unharmed, don't worry about that" Monobear stuck a claw between his visible teeth as if it was a toothpick "Besides, repeat performances suck! That's why I have something completely different for you this time" Azalea braced for what may come.

"Nobody is going to kill for that, no matter what it is!" Kouma dared to shout. Not many of the other Hostages seemed to agree with that.

"Are you sure? Let's see if you can keep that determined look of yours after this!" Monobear waved his paws in the air in elaborate motions, humming louder and louder until, after a few seconds, he finished with a 'tada!' "Done! In each of your cottages you'll now find an object you'll recognize, because it's very important to you. That's right, we have left a virtual copy of the item you consider most important to you!"

"Most important...item?"

"Exactly! Maybe it's that memento from your deceased best friend! Or it's the last will of your mother. It could even be the keys of your house, if you care a lot about them! And you'll find it in your cottage"

"Psh. Like it matters. Those'd be no more than virtual copies" Elaine pointed. Monobear wasn't bothered by such obvious fact being pointed, though.

"Thanks for telling the obvious, Coy-san. But let me ask you: if we give you the most important item to you, wouldn't it mean we know what it is? That we have it with us _right now_?"

"Wait—wait, what are you going to do with them?"

Monobear chuckled, raising his paws in the air. "If nobody dies before 72 hours pass, the real version of the item we left in each of your cottages will be completely destroyed! Burned to ashes! Crushed until nothing is left!"

A horrified silence fell on the Hostages. After a moment Lucien, curiously pale, mumbled something: "You can't do that. There's no way you can..."

"We can. If you want to risk the destruction of your beloved item, don't murder anyone. We'll even send you a video of the moment we burn it to the ground!"

"No! Stop!" the marine biologist grabbed his head as if he had a headache and hurried away in direction of the cottages. Some of the Hostages tried to stop him, but he went away rather quickly.

"Let's hope he won't be the culprit or it'll be a quick trial!" Monobear said, not caring at all.

Dalia stomped towards Monobear, gritting her teeth "That's enough! It can't be possible you have something important for us!"

"If you doubt it then check your cottage! You'll be surprised" he said with a sinister tone and jumped behind the pedestal, disappearing. The motive had been delivered, all that remained was to wait for someone to die.

"It's possible they did...they did get it" Joanna murmured, her hands empty. Her violin case had disappeared from her hands. _Is it in her cottage now?_

"But how? Mine isn't something that can be taken away – just like that!" Kouma scratched her head, looking stressed.

"If they managed to kidnap us and put us in this virtual world...I think it wouldn't be a stretch to think they got such item" Aleksey said. There was a strange shine in his eyes. When he noticed Azalea was looking at him, he looked away.

"Impossible...I'm not going to my cottage. I'm not going to check whatever they said they have for me" Runihura stated, walking towards the Stadium. Runihura's decision was agreed by others, who pointedly walked in directions other than the cottages. It wasn't like they could avoid those forever, either way, at some point they'd all have to enter the cabins for one reason or another.

Others wanted to confirm what Monobear had left in their cottages. "I want to see it. There's no way the kidnappers got their hands on it...I have to make sure about it" Matthew said before going in direction of the cottages. Azalea stepped with him for a moment, but changed her mind. What use did it have go to her cottage right now? She knew she wasn't some kind of saint. She didn't want to risk being tempted by this motive _. I wouldn't kill anyone, right? I'm better than that_ she told herself, but she wasn't entirely convinced about it, if she had to be completely honest.

Better to run away for the moment, as cowardly as that could sound. Matthew seemed to have he same idea, because he changed directions too.

-ooooo-

While Azalea was able to resist the temptation to go inside her cottage to see the item Monobear made appear in there, it wasn't easy. She more than once found herself walking towards the cottages, including one time she got as far as placing her hand on the doorknob. Azalea wanted to convince herself it was all okay, that whatever Monobear had obtained for her wasn't as important as to kill someone just to save it...but it wasn't completely effective.

Some of the Hostages that saw their items were tense and looking around with wariness, while others simply seemed more silent than usual. None of them were carrying anything with them, most likely having left them in the safety of the cottages. Lucien's item was visible even from outside, though: a large lighthouse had popped from inside his cottage, obliterating it. Bits of wood, glass and water littered the place. Had his beloved aquarium burst? I h _ope his anemone is okay_ Azalea thought, angling her neck upwards to stare at the top of the lighthouse.

Wanting to distract herself, Azalea decided to go to the place the NPCs had been fixing with such urgency. The motivator ascended the stairs with hesitation, holding her hands forward to avoid hitting the invisible barrier with her nose again. When her hands got to the point where the invisible wall had formerly been, she sped up a bit and crossed the doorway.

Indeed, there wasn't a storage anymore. Instead what greeted her was an old-fashioned diner. The inside didn't match the outside. If she didn't know this was a virtual world, this would have confused her a lot. There was a jukebox in a corner, emitting some song in a language Azalea didn't know very well. She identified it as Spanish, though. Behind the counter there was a door that led to a small kitchen, which had a small quantity of food and diverse items.

And on the other side of the diner there was Dalia, humming and looking at a large showing case full of trophies. The trophies were about a large variety of disciplines. Sports, scientific achievements, pie-throwing and similar novelty tournaments, it all shone and didn't mesh very well with the atmosphere of the diner. The trophies had diverse shapes and forms, ranging from generic to rather detailed. Dalia had a trophy in her hands, examining it. "Dalia?"

Dalia turned her head around. "Uh, hello. Neat place, right?"

"It's not really something we need"

"Whatever" Dalia put the trophy back into the showing case "So what about that motive? Have you gotten your item yet?"

Azalea scratched her ear, feeling rather awkward. Dalia was someone she wasn't really interested in, honestly. The ecologist got along better with Chrysanthe and with Alistair, and given that Azalea had some of the blame for Alistair's death – or so that's what Azalea felt – she didn't want to bother Dalia for long. "N-No, I don't dare entering my cottage yet"

"I haven't checked what Monobear got on me and I'm not in a hurry to find out" Dalia said, looking in the opposite direction of Azalea, something the motivator interpreted as something close to animosity "I have a feeling of what it is"

"Do you...want to talk about it?"

Dalia frowned, making sure to look away from Azalea "No! Who do you think you are?!"

"I just—"

"I don't want to talk about that. Don't ask"

Maybe Dalia truly blamed Azalea for Alistair's death, or maybe she simply saw Azalea as a stranger, not as someone she'd trust with any kind of personal information. Azalea didn't try to press any further, not wanting to make her more upset than she already was. She was about to leave when Dalia stopped her, sighing. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm having a hard time with all this"

The apology didn't seem entirely sincere, but it wasn't like Azalea was going to get anything better than that anytime soon. "Hey, you know what cheers up Chrys when she's sad? Talking about gardening. Try that!"

"I don't know much about gardening, Azalea"

"No! I mean that you should talk about what you like" the motivator leaned her head on her closed fist "You should talk about ecology. How can't you know gardening?"

"I'm not a gardener, I'm more into forests. Don't tell anyone this, but..." Dalia approached, lowering her voice "I'm a disaster when it's about plants. They die when I try to take care of them" she raised her voice back "But ecology isn't just about plants, it's about animals too, and I'm great with animals!"

"You got a pet?"

"I have a rabbit! My best friend in school gifted her to me. She's the most precious ball of fur you'd ever see!" her face had gained a cute reddish glow, remembering her pet with so much love and care. _If that rabbit is her beloved item then.._. Azalea really hoped it wasn't "I like rabbits, I like them since I saved them in elementary school"

"You saved rabbits?" It really hadn't been hard to cheer up Dalia, that was for sure. Dalia nodded.

"Yes. There was this garden in school, filled with plants, a rabbit family, and a large pear tree. We used to sit under the tree to hang out and watch the sky" she closed her eyes picturing the scene "There are few things more beautiful than seeing the sky through the leaves of a tree. That's why it was my favorite place, it was this tiny, tiny world in middle of school...

...I loved that place"

"Yeah, but how did you save the rabbits?"

Dalia opened her eyes "If the tree and everything had been demolished, the rabbits would have nowhere to live. I didn't want to let it happen, so I..." her expression changed. Dalia shook her head "I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's not my best memory"

"You don't have to tell me, Dalia" Azalea hesitantly tried to touch her on the shoulder, but Dalia moved away "I'm not going to pressure you into telling me more"

"T-Thanks, I guess..." Dalia stared at her table for a moment before talking with a forced tone of happiness "H-Hey! How about I tell you about something lighter? Good memories, better than this one. Let me tell you!"

Azalea raised her eyebrows, looking a bit unsure "Go ahead. I'm listening" _If it takes her mind off what may be a painful memory then I'll let her talk about anything she wants..._ Still, Azalea couldn't avoid being curious about what exactly had happened. She wasn't going to ask, but she hoped to know more someday.

 ** _I spent time listening Dalia talk about her happy memories_**

-ooooo-

By the time night came, only a few Hostages hadn't entered their cabins to check what item Monobear had obtained. They all wanted to resist the temptation of Monobear's motive, and for that reason Azalea, Matthew, Thioro and Kamiya gathered at the Communal Building, intending to spend the night in the Dining Hall. While Kamiya and Azalea prepared in the kitchen something for the four of them, Matthew and Thioro took the time to get pillows and bedsheets, asking other Hostages for them. At one point, Thioro stared at the door of his own cabin. He stood there for so long Matthew approached, concerned. "Are you okay? Do you want to go inside and...see what he got?"

After a moment Thioro shook his head. "No. I don't trust myself enough to not feel tempted by whatever is inside" he slung the bedsheets over his shoulder "Why don't you want to see yours?"

Matthew scratched the back of his neck, not looking at Thioro. "I have a very good idea what Monobear got for me, and trust me: you don't want anyone to know about it"

"What is it?" Thioro asked, completely ignoring that Matthew hadn't been forthcoming about the item. The engineer turned his head around, baffled Thioro would ask right after it was said he didn't want anyone knowing, but something in Thioro's almost childish curious expression made Matthew laugh.

"Come on, I just said I don't want to tell!" he lightly punched Thioro on the arm.

"You think you can deny information to a detective? You're going _down_ , buddy" Thioro smirked and looked into the Dining Hall, Kamiya and Azalea weren't there "Wait, let me guess: is it something you invented?"

"Invent—how did you know?"

"What part of 'being a detective' is so hard to believe? I'm not some kind of failure at my job, Matt" he started recounting with his fingers "You're an engineer, you show pride of your job by wearing those gloves and that lens all the time, and you wouldn't be so good if you didn't do projects at an early age. So I say your loved item is..." he snapped his fingers "A motor made of pistons!"

Matthew stared at Thioro for a moment in disbelief before laughing loudly. " _Dude_ , you're so off!" he looked around, not seeing anything that could show Azalea or Kamiya were listening. The engineer leaned forward, lowering his voice "Don't tell anyone. I think my item will be...a nuclear reactor"

"A what?!"

"A small nuclear reactor. I made it when I was fourteen" he shrugged "Science project"

"Who makes a nuclear reactor as a science project?!"

Matthew smiled, amused by Thioro's disbelief. "I just wanted a challenge, that's all" he stopped smiling, shaking his head slightly "And I don't want anyone to know I may have a nuclear reactor. If I do, then that could be dangerous, and it's not something I can get rid of easily. At least it means I'd have no reason to kill anyone, it was just a science project"

"Then why you don't want to see it, if it's not going to tempt you to kill?"

The engineer set a pillow and bedsheet on the floor. "Because I could be wrong. Monobear may have gotten something else. I don't want to give Monobear a chance to have a hold over me"

Azalea and Kamiya returned to the Dining Hall after a while, bringing the food. For a while the four bonded and forgot all about Monobear's motive and about any worries regarding anyone being tempted to kill to protect their item, instead talking and enjoying their time together. After around half an hour, Matthew stood up to turn off the lights. "Are we going to do this again tomorrow?"

"We'll have to, and the day after tomorrow too. We can't return to our cabins" Kamiya said.

"This is going to get old after a while..." Matthew turned off the lights and walked to his pillow. Barely a minute had passed before the lights turned on again, Monobear standing up in front of the light switch.

"For shame, guys, for shaaaaaame" he pressed his paws against his chest "Three boys and one girl sleeping together, in close quarters, their bodies touching each other like that? Get a room, all of you!"

"Shut up, Monobear" Azalea mumbled, not turning around.

"And what do you know, turns out all of you _do_ have rooms! So why the hell are you trying to sleep in here?" the formerly playful tone vanished, his eyes glowing menacingly "Who said it was allowed to sleep out of your cottages?"

Kamiya sat up, pressing his mask against his face. It seemed he didn't take it off not even for sleeping. _Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him eat, either..._ "There's no rule about sleeping in the cottages!"

" _Now_ there is. I declare it's forbidden to sleep in any place that isn't your assigned bed" Monobear unsheathed and retracted his claws, approaching slowly "Did you think I'm stupid? I know why you're avoiding your cottages. Get going already!"

"This is unfair!" Thioro protested uselessly, although he did start to pick up his pillow and bedsheet.

"Too bad! Bears aren't known for being paragons of fairness. Move! All of you!" he was completely serious. The four Hostages left the Dining Hall and went in direction of the cottages, disappointed. Their attempt to not let themselves be tempted hadn't worked, and knowing Monobear, he had left the item in a visible place inside the cottage. None of the Hostages said good night to each other, too angry to bother with such little courtesies.

When Azalea stopped in front of her door she sighed, leaning her head on the door. The cold contact of the wood against her forehead was soothing, almost encouraging. _Why am I so scared? I wouldn't kill anyone, right? I wouldn't..._ Didn't everyone have a price? Azalea didn't know what'd be hers, but risking it was stupid, in her opinion. There was no other option now, though, Monobear had ensured there wouldn't be.

After taking a moment to prepare herself mentally, Azalea entered her cottage, her eyes immediately going towards the bed. And indeed, there it was, the most important object in the world:

Her mother's locket.


	12. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart III

It was the first overcast day in Heavenly Resort, for some reason, but Azalea didn't particularly care about it. She was more focused on the rectangular locket in her hand. Azalea was sitting on the stairs to her cabin, with the locket open, looking at the photo inside. It had been quite some time since the last time she had looked at it.

"Hey there, Azalea. What do you have there?" Thioro approached, leaning on the handrail. Azalea looked up, rubbing her eyes. Her eyes burned, filled with tears.

" Hi...it's what Monobear got for me. He wasn't kidding, our beloved items are in danger"

"Yeah, I noticed" Thioro pointed at the locket in her hand "I'm guessing your item isn't the locket, it's the photo inside"

"It is. Want to see it?" She didn't mind sharing it. It was true the photo in the locket was her dearest possession, but at least she had confirmed now it was nothing worth killing over. That was a relief, in a way. It was true there was a chance the photo would be destroyed forever, but she wasn't going to kill to prevent that. Thioro took the locket, looking at the photo.

"...that is you"

The photo showed two people: a woman and a girl. The girl was unmistakably Azalea, she resembled her childhood self a lot. The woman could only be her mother, her hair was a darker shade of blue, but she did resemble her daughter. They were both standing in front of a table in what seemed to be a laboratory. Thioro looked a bit closer, the woman was cradling something...a baby?

Azalea got close to him, touching the locket. "Yeah, that's me. The baby is Chrys, and that's my mom. I was five when this photo was taken"

Thioro chuckled, amused. "You don't look five. I thought you were like nine"

"I guess the women in my family look older than we actually are...or maybe it's because Mom look short, she's bending her knees, see? I bet that makes me look older than I was back then"

"Yeah...so this is a laboratory"

"Mom worked in chemistry. She used to travel often to other countries, but once Chrys was with us she stopped that" Azalea put her hands on her knees, thinking "Mom loved chemistry, and she'd talk about it with everyone...she even taught me a lot of stuff, the complicated kind. This photo was taken when she received an award for her job...by that time Dad had run away, leaving Chrys with us"

Thioro returned the locket. "Why did he do that?" he shook his hand, dismissing what he had just asked "No, nevermind. It's none of my business"

"It's okay, I came to terms with it long ago" Azalea put on the locket, looking at the cloudy sky, wistful "Chrys and I are half-sisters, actually. Dad had a mistress, Chrys is the daughter of that other woman"

"...did you know her?"

"I don't know not even her name. She doesn't matter to me at all, but I don't resent her either. Dad's the one who got the hots for her" Azalea did sound bitter about that "I heard Dad didn't want another child, but she insisted and kept it. Once Chrys was born and that woman realized she couldn't take care of a baby, she...she decided to come clean to Mom"

Thioro frowned, doubtful if he should continue talking about this. Obviously it was something rather private to Azalea, but if she was willing to share – and it didn't seem like she was too affected by these memories – then he was willing to ask. "So she reacted well...Chrysanthe wouldn't be in the photo if she hadn't"

Azalea smiled weakly. "I was like five years old, I don't remember anything, but Mom, Chrys and I try to not keep secrets. We talked about it.

The truth is that Mom wasn't very happy about having to take care of Chrys, but she persevered. With time she grew to love Chrys as if she was fully her daughter, and soon stopped seeing her as...as...as a s-symbol of Dad's betrayal" Azalea's smile got a bit sincerer "We love Chrys. I can't imagine how my life would have been without her"

"What does Chrysanthe think about all this?" Thioro glanced at Chrysanthe's cabin, as if he feared she was listening to any of this. Azalea's smile vanished.

"...Thioro, I know my sister. She's truly a good person, and one of the kindest people I know as long as you don't make her angry, but...but even she has her limits. Look, she absolutely _hates_ her biological mother. I don't even know why, but she does" Azalea grabbed the locket "And I don't want to ask her about it" There was an awkward pause while Thioro tried to think of something to say, but Azalea didn't give him much time. She looked straight at his eyes with severe expression "Don't ask her. That's none of our beeswax, got it?"

"I understand"

"Besides I don't want to hurt her...thinking about it too much would hurt her"

Thioro messed with his tie, mulling how to say what he had in his mind. "I'm no friend of your sister, but Dalia and I are in good terms, and she is Chrysanthe's friend. She tells me Chrysanthe is a very strong woman. You should talk with her"

"I'm not sure, maybe I—"

"For a motivator you sure don't tend to be very motivating, do you?" the detective shrugged "Talk to her. She'll be fine"

Azalea gave a noncommittal shrug, still undecided, but at least she didn't outright reject the idea. She still didn't think it was a good idea, but maybe Thioro and Dalia were right, and Chrysanthe could bear talking about that. That's what sisters needed to do, after all.

"Since you showed me your item, I should show you mine" Thioro said.

"You don't have to, we didn't have a deal or anything"

"No, I want to. Look at this" Thioro took out the object from his pocket, it was a police badge. It said 'Johannesburg Police Force' "This is my police badge. Cool, eh?"

"It's nice" Azalea waited for a moment, expecting the badge to do something, but once it was clear it was no more than a simple badge made of brass she raised her eyebrows "That's it?"

"What do you mean with 'that's it'? What did you think it'd do?"

"I dunno. Wait, I get it, it's a memento of something"

Thioro put the badge back in his pocket. "Close, but no. It's the proof I completed my life goal. Do you know how many mystery fans manage to be detectives?"

"All of them, I guess"

"No. Almost none. Mysteries and crimes are nothing like what happens in books or movies. Here, let me tell you something" Thioro sat on the handrail, gesturing with his hands "Imagine a class of thirty new college students. There we are, all ready for the first semester of our college career. Everyone is excited, and of course during the first week everyone gets to know each other, they talk and soon it's obvious most of them are mystery fans that wanted to be detectives"

It was rather easy to picture; Azalea had never gone to college but she could imagine how that class would look like. "And you were one of them?"

"Exactly, I was. I heard many names. Christie and Holmes, for those who didn't delve too far into the genre. Edogawa Ranpo and Wilkie Collins for those who liked more obscure authors. LeCarré and Clancy for those who preferred contemporary authors. We all loved mystery, that's what united us.

And then..." Thioro mimed something heavy falling down "...reality came crashing down on us"

"What do you mean?"

"I told you, mysteries and reality aren't the same thing. I saw how the hopes of everyone vanished during the semester. Some quit during the semester, others simply didn't return the next one, and there I was, the one person who kept going no matter what" Thioro scratched his cheek "I wanted to be a detective, so what if other people quit? I wasn't going to let that stop me. We were thirty, only four graduated, and I was one of those four"

Azalea looked at Thioro with admiration. "That's kinda cool, you know" that reply wasn't what Thioro was expecting. He grinned timidly, not looking at her.

"You think that?"

"Yeah! You kept going and fulfilled your dream, that's something anyone would respect"

"Shucks, I—thank you" he seemed to be much more relaxed now "It was nothing amazing"

"No, don't say that, it's good!" she extended her legs, staring at the tip of her shoes "I wish I had gone to college"

"You had something you wanted to study?"

"Social sciences, or something related to them. I don't know" Azalea tilted her head "Maybe I'd have gone into politics? I don't know, it has been a while since I thought about careers..." and it wasn't like the world right now was in any state to focus on studying or careers, if what those fuzzy memories she had were accurate. Survival was the priority. She didn't really remember what she was doing to survive, though.

Thioro and Azalea stayed together for a while, talking about their lives. Azalea enjoyed Thioro's company, he seemed like a good person. It was true Thioro could be rather perceptive and logical when he wanted, but sometimes a strange naivety and tendency to jump to inaccurate conclusions surfaced. _He's a weird person...but I like that of him._ He was someone she could rely on, at least.

The detective stood up, looking towards a group that was approaching. "Oh, it's time"

"Time for what?"

"Joanna said she was going to try something for fun. I think she's starting to have a bad case of cabin fever"

"...you know that's not logical, right?"

Thioro shook his head. "Guess you're right. Maybe Joanna simply likes playing around, I don't know. Want to join us?" It wasn't like Azalea had anything better to do right now, and a distraction was welcome, anything so she didn't continue thinking about her mother's locket.

Joanna, Dalia and Kamiya were approaching, settling at the small stone plateau in the central cabin area. Joanna was carrying a large bottle full of soda and many other empty ones, while her two companions were bringing assorted materials. When Thioro and Azalea approached, Dalia waved at them. "Hey, want to watch?"

"What are you doing?" Azalea asked.

"We're going to see how well the laws of physics are holding up in this simulation" Kamiya settled down a bicycle pump, most likely from the stadium "It was Joanna's idea" The violinist nodded, leaving stuff on the ground.

"I want to see if it'd be easy to glitch this place. It can't be this simulation covers absolutely all scenarios"

"And to achieve that you're doing...what, exactly?" Thioro crouched beside the empty bottle.

"We're going to make a few bottle rockets"

That was simple enough, and it sounded kind of fun. Azalea offered to help, so between the five of them they started building the bottle rockets. "I didn't know you knew how to do this stuff, Joanna" Dalia commented, emptying one of the soda bottles until there was only half of the content left. The violinist smirked, inserting the end of the bike pump through a cork.

"Someone I once knew back at school did stuff like this as pranks. I never had the chance to do it myself...my parents wouldn't have approved"

"I'm jealous. This is the first time I do something like this" Kamiya commented, holding the bottle in place.

"Now that I'm twenty-six years old and independent from them, I can do whatever I want" Joanna smiled pleasantly "Nobody can tell me not to make bottle rockets"

"But we all look like teenagers right now" Dalia pointed.

"That doesn't matter. Nobody here is my parents"

While a couple other bottle rockets were assembled, the topic turned to the current situation. "So...do you think the items will really be destroyed?" Azalea mused. Joanna tried to keep her face stony, but the way her eyelid twitched she wasn't as calm as she hoped she looked.

"That bear isn't the type to joke around. The kidnappers will destroy the real items"

"If nobody kills" Thioro reminded them.

"Do you think someone will kill?"

"It's possible" Kamiya said "We don't know how attached is everyone to their items"

Dalia turned the bottle until the bottom of it was pointing upwards "But we know there's a certain _somebody_ who cares way too much about those items" Everyone else's faces soured except Azalea's. _What? Did I miss something?_ Noticing she didn't seem to know what they were talking about, Dalia pursed her lips "Oh. Right, Azalea doesn't know..."

"Don't know what?" Azalea frowned. What had happened? Thioro narrowed his eyes, disapproving, although it didn't seem like that was directed to Azalea.

"Aleksey. Vittoria caught him trying to sneak into her cottage. He even confessed he was tempted to steal some of our important items"

Of course. A thief would make those things his objective, and this was a very skillful thief. It may be matter of time before he successfully steals something, even though there were only like forty hours left before Monobear's deadline.

"I heard Vittoria is forcing him to clean the Communal Building from top to bottom as punishment" Dalia added "Serves him right"

"But I thought only someone with a key could enter a cottage" Azalea said.

"He says he found a loophole. I have no idea what he's talking about when he says that" Kamiya started pumping air into the bottle. The water inside started bubbling slightly while everyone else stepped back.

The bottle's cork popped, and the pressure inside propelled the bottle upwards, spewing water everywhere. The rocket ascended in a straight line to a considerable height before falling down, the empty plastic bottle falling somewhere near the Garden. "...I think nothing went wrong. Did any of you see something?" Joanna inquired. Nobody saw anything strange or abnormal, the laws of physics seemed to be working as intended "Okay, let's try a couple times more"

The next two bottle rockets had the same results. Whoever had made this virtual world had done a good job, that was for sure. "Damn it, I thought we'd find out something..." Dalia mumbled, picking up one of the empty bottles. Thioro put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Wait. I think we're doing something wrong. We're trying to test this stuff, but we're doing what anyone would do. How about we do this in some unexpected way?"

"Unexpected how?"

"Let's mix this up a bit. Azalea, bring me paint" Thioro requested, and then to Dalia "Give me a bottle half-filled with soda"

Thioro's requests weren't very outlandish, but Azalea wasn't sure how exactly this'd make a bottle rocket. Paint and soda was a completely different thing than water, would it work? Thioro poured paint into the soda, lifting the plastic bottle in the air and looking how the mix turned blue like the paint. "Great"

"Let me seal that for you" Kamiya offered, but before he put the cork he moved the bottle in his hands, weighing it "It's heavy, Thioro. The rocket won't ascend in a straight line unless there's something heavy on this end"

"That's no problem. Give me that" Thioro took the bottle and took out the stone eye from the Monobear statue, way too big to fit through the neck of the bottle. After showing it to everyone, Thioro put the stone eye in his palm and slammed it down on the mouth of the bottle. "Shazam! Like I suspected..." Somehow the stone eye fit into the bottle despite how impossible it had seemed before.

"...how? That thing was wider than the opening!" Joanna exclaimed, her eyes wide open.

"You'll have to talk to the admins, but let me tell you: this virtual world isn't perfectly made" Thioro gave the bottle back to Kamiya, who put the cork and the bike pump. The detective started pumping air into the bottle, making the mixture fizz "Everyone cover!"

It didn't go very well.

The mixture of soda and paint bubbled more and more until the cork burst, the rocket bottle going upwards for a second. The stone eye inside wasn't a good decision, though, instead of going straight upwards, the bottle rocket dived in diagonal until it changed directions. "Shit, run!" Dalia shouted. The bottle flew around, spewing the paint and staining the grass, until it collided against one of the cabins, breaking through one of the windows. The glass shattered noisily, the bottle rocket crashing inside, a loud *POP* and the sound of wood creaking emanating from inside. Everyone stared at the cabin in disbelief. How had things ended like this?

Thioro looked around, flustered, and started running away. "If anybody asks tell them I wasn't here!" he shouted while going in direction of the stadium. The rest stood there, looking at each other with confusion and embarrassment.

"...what was that noise?"

"I think it came from over there"

Other Hostages were approaching, their attention piqued from the shenanigans. Joanna picked up the bike pump. "Thanks for everything!" she said quickly before running away at quite a surprising speed. Kamiya followed her example, entering his cabin to pretend he had nothing to do with what happened, leaving Dalia and Azalea blindsided, standing near the many puddles of sticky soda and blue paint staining the stone path and the grass.

"Uh—who does that cabin belong to?" Azalea murmured, looking around. Matthew and Elaine were approaching in the distance, so the girls moved aside to hide from their sight, choosing to take refuge behind one of the cottages. Dalia quickly counted the cottages, hissing once she realized who was the owner of the slighted cabin.

"It's Alistair's. Shit, we're messing with a dead person's possessions...that's curse-worthy!"

"Curses don't exist!"

"It's a bad idea to mess with the deceased's belongings!"

"Uh, what's going on here?" Runihura had gotten closer without Azalea and Dalia noticing. The girls yelped and turned around, throwing themselves against the wall as if they expected that to make them vanish.

"Runihura! What a nice day, right?" Dalia stammered, sweating "We were just...we did nothing wrong!"

Azalea was calmer than Dalia but equally as embarrassed as her. Her cheeks were redder than usual, her natural blush having intensified considerably. "Did you see someone else coming here? We saw somebody running away, and—"

"What is this abominable disaster?!" Vittoria's horrified squeal reached their ears, again making the girls jump in surprise. Losing their cool, Dalia and Azalea decided it was a good moment to get away.

"Please don't snitch on us!" Azalea said to Runihura, grabbing him from his arm for a moment, her voice reaching a desperate tone she never thought she'd ever use "Thanks, I owe you one!"

"W-What? Azalea, what did you-?" they had already gotten away, running without looking back, although not quick enough for Vittoria to not to see them.

"Lady Stravopoulos and Lady Roble, come back here _right_ _now_!"

-ooooo-

Turns out cleaning paint from grass and stone is a hopeless endeavor. Vittoria had ordered them to make sure the mess they did was completely cleaned up. "We are all supposed to be adults, not middle school children in a school trip" she had said "Clean this up and do not do something as foolhardy as this ever again"

A few hours later they had done no progress at all. It was sunset now, the light of the sun stretching their shadows grotesquely. "I can't believe those three left us alone to clean this up!" Dalia groaned for the hundredth time, sitting on her backside and rubbing her knees with pained expression. She had been kneeling for a long while already.

"I can't blame them, but still..." _They could at least have helped._ Those three had the gall of passing by and just give them a look of commiseration. In fact, nobody offered to help.

"I'm tired of this. What's Vittoria going to do? She's a Hostage more, she can't do anything else" Dalia pursed her lips "But I don't think I want to see what mafia's punishments are. Is it true they cut people's thumbs?"

"...I don't think Vittoria will cut anyone's thumb"

"I don't want to risk it. At least she's a nice person, criminal or not...I like her"

Azalea smiled fondly, scrubbing harder with her brush. "I think she does care about all of us. I'm glad she's the leader, instead of me" They continued trying to clean for a while longer until Azalea sighed, surrendering. "This is impossible"

"We can't do anything but continue cleaning"

"No. Listen here" Azalea crawled towards Dalia and started whispering slyly "This is not our fault. Why are we doing something we shouldn't be doing?"

"It isn't like we have other options..."

"We do. We're going to go find those three, and we'll get them to clean this" Azalea smiled "It's what they deserve"

Dalia looked at her, her eyes glinting "What do you have in mind?"

"We'll convince them to do what we're doing now. Them refusing won't be an option" the motivator hit her palm with her fist, her smile turning into a grin "It's what they deserve. We're not anyone's maids to be cleaning after their mess! Come on, Dalia!

We need to take a stand! We're going to take those three, grab them from their necks, shove them onto the grass, and make them clean all this until it's so clean we could eat straight out from the floor!"

The effect was immediate. Dalia stood up, throwing her brush to the floor. "Yeah, you're right! Let's do it!"

"That won't be necessary" Stripes had approached, watching them with amusement. The sewed-on smile on his face seemed a lot more accurate now. "I didn't think you'd have the guts to try to subdue your fellow Hostages...I like that attitude!"

"Shut up"

"In fact, I like it so much I'm going to lend you a hand here" Stripes raised his paw "Or a paw, if you want to call it that. Remember this is a virtual world and we admins are in control of it. I can make all this paint you see here vanish in the blink of an eye"

"Really?" Azalea let herself get a bit hopeful "You'd do that for us?"

"Of course! But in exchange there's something I want you to do"

 _Should have guessed...nothing comes for free_. "What is it?"

Stripes took from behind his back a book. "Somebody left this book in the Communal Building. I was on my way to return it when I stumbled upon you two, and honestly I don't feel like walking too much right now. I can clean this for you two, but going all the way to the Library..."

"If you can control all about the virtual world why can't you leave this book in there already?"

"It's not as simple as you think. We admins are bound by certain rules. I can't explain the exact details" _Fine. Better to have this cleaned quickly._

"Okay, give me that" Azalea extended her hand, taking the book. It was a book about famous thieves. "Huh...who left this?"

"Aleksey. He's been seen trying to sneak into people's cabins" even Stripes seemed to disapprove that "I'll do my part" he waved his paws towards the paint. It flashed for a moment before vanishing in particles of light. "Done. I'm counting on you. Are you going too, Dalia?"

"It's not like I have anything better to do" the ecologist replied, going ahead. Azalea followed her, leaving Stripes behind.

The Library was like normal. Dalia opened the door, peeking inside. "Alright, there's nobody inside. Have you ever been here?" she asked, passing through the stone arch.

"I was here with Khotso and Joanna. If I'm not mistaken, this kind of nonfiction books are...over here" she pointed at the furthest shelves, to the left of the building. The two walked there, looking at the rows and rows of books "Look for any spot that looks disorganized, that must be where these came from"

"I think it must be from over here. Look, the books are a bit strange over here—" suddenly Dalia stopped, looking at the floor. "...Azalea, you need to look at this"

"What? What's it?"

Dalia pointed, her finger shaking slightly. "...blood" Indeed, there was a small puddle of blood near the shelf. Azalea crouched to take a better look. The puddle was no bigger than a few inches wide, but the blood looked fresh. Somebody had bled there recently. Had someone been killed in broad daylight? Azalea had opened her mouth to comment when a drop of blood fell on the puddle, making it a bit larger. _What the hell...?_ "Did blood drip here right now? That'd mean—"

"Dalia, can you look upwards and tell me if there's something up there?" Azalea didn't dare to look, but it wasn't like a drop of blood falling from above could mean much more than the obvious answer. The ecologist felt her mouth dry, but she looked upwards after a moment of hesitation.

And then she screamed.

That was enough for Azalea to look up. Indeed, like she feared: there was a person up there, lying on the top of the three-meter tall bookshelf. The blood was dripping down from the top edge of the shelf, conceivably where the head of that person would be at. Only the arm of that person was visible, but the clothes were enough to give a very good idea of who it was. "Hey! Are you okay?" _Maybe he's not dead. Maybe he's just injured!_ But there was no answer. Azalea stood up and grabbed the person's hand.

It was deadly cold.

 **Aleksey Seryogin is dead.**


	13. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart IV

Aleksey Seryogin had been killed 24 hours after the motive was presented. That meant the culprit felt rather motivated to act, didn't it? But why Aleksey? That's what Azalea was wondering. This time the murder wasn't hitting her as hard as Alistair's death did. It was because Aleksey wasn't someone Azalea considered a friend, she knew that, but it felt disrespectful to not feel as bad as she felt with Alistair. Aleksey had done nothing wrong, why didn't she feel worse about this?

In that moment a rather loud bell resonated from some place in the Library, followed by a voice everyone knew very well. "A body has been discovered! After a short time for the investigation, please gather at the train station to start the trial!"

"What are we going to do? Azalea, are you listening to me?" Dalia's voice had a tinge of panic, although she was trying to stay calm "Azalea!"

"Oh—uh, did you say something?"

"What are we going to do?"

Azalea turned around, snapping out of staring at Aleksey's arm hanging over their heads. She opened her mouth a couple times, inhaled sharply and stood up. "We need to start the investigation. Where's Thioro?"

"We won't find him by standing here! Come on, let's get going"

The gals barely reached the stone arch when Runihura entered the Library, hauling his video camera with him as usual. Dalia rushed towards him. "Aleksey is dead! He was murdered!" Runihura didn't need to be told twice. He looked at Azalea and Dalia and started running towards the depths of the Library. "No! Over here!"

"He's at the top of this shelf" Azalea indicated. Runihura nodded and went in the right direction, looking upwards. There was Aleksey's body. Runihura froze, clutching the belt of his video camera.

"Oh god..."

"We can't leave him up there. Thioro will need to examine the body"

"But what if we accidentally destroy evidence?" Dalia looked up, nervous "Do you think Thioro could climb the shelf all the way up there?"

"He'll have to" Azalea had wanted to take a look at the body too, and maybe Matthew could help as well. Thioro and Matthew's examinations had led to rather valuable evidence, it could happen again. Seeing why they were hesitating, Runihura lifted his camera.

"I'll give Thioro my camera, he can record everything he finds there"

"Good idea" Azalea stepped away to make sure she wouldn't step on the small puddle of blood, but her feet stumbled upon something. When she looked down she found three Monobear Files underneath her foot. _W-What? When did these get here?_ "Oh, right, virtual world..." Well it was time to take a look at what the file said. She couldn't believe what it said. "Frostbite?!"

 **Monobear File #2**

 _Victim: Aleksey Seryogin_

 _Time of Death: 5:30 PM_

 _Cause of Death: Trauma to the occipital lobe made with a blunt object._

 _Location of the Body: Library_

 _Notes: The body shows signs of **frostbite** at the back of the head and on the neck._

Dalia and Runihura read their copies of the file, frowning. "That has to be impossible. The weather isn't even close to being freezing!" Runihura said.

"The occipital lobe is...where is it?" Dalia touched her forehead, as if that was the place indicated in the file.

"No, the occipital lobe is at the back of the head, right at the place where he has frostbite" Azalea indicated patting her own head in the right area.

"Oh. If that's so then it means he was attacked by surprise"

The noise of steps got their attention. _Those must be Thioro and Matthew_. They had to check the body, after all. That was wrong, though. It was Thioro and Khotso. The detective waved at them while Khotso stared at the corpse with apprehension. "H-How did it get up there...?"

"Who knows. We should wonder how I'm going to get up there" Thioro mumbled.

"If you get on my shoulders I can hoist you upwards. You ready?" Dalia offered, crouching so Thioro could stand on her shoulders. Thioro was stocky and looked heavier than Dalia, but the ecologist was rather strong. She was able to lift Thioro, her legs shaking a bit from the effort, but she endured it for the few seconds it lasted. Thioro was able to pull himself on the shelf, staying on his hands and knees during the time he was up there.

"How did the killer lift the body up there? That's what I don't get" Runihura commented, passing the video camera for Thioro to grab.

"I don't know yet but it's something we'll find out sooner or later" the detective managed to turn on the camera, aiming with it at Aleksey's body. He started recording what he was seeing. "Hmmm...indeed, there's frostbite here around the wound – no, wait. It extends quite some bit further than the wound itself. It covers most of the back of his head and neck..."

"B-But that's impossible! Today wasn't sunny but it wasn't that cold either...you'd need the cold of space for that to happen..." Khotso said.

"Could it be something the weapon did?" Azalea asked, leaning on the other bookshelf so she could watch Thioro work, even though she could only see the man touching the body.

"No. Even if the killer left in a freezer whatever weapon was used to kill this guy, I really doubt it'd cause such extensive frostbite. What a mystery, huh" Thioro wiped his fingers on Aleksey's trench coat.

"How does the wound look like?"

"It's a strange wound. The shape is all weird and wobbly, I have no idea what could have caused it"

"But it was something hard, right?" Dalia tried to confirm. The cause of death was blunt weapon trauma, after all. Thioro touched the back of Aleksey's skull with his fingertips, pressing delicately.

"Goshdarn...—" Thioro muttered, his face getting pale "His skull – it's _cracked_. Someone hit him with a lot of strength"

"Not many among us would be capable of hitting someone with that much strength" Runihura said, crossing his arms "He may have been hit more than once"

"No. He was hit only once, that much I'm sure about" _But that's...how did anyone hit him so hard?_

Thioro continued his examination of the body. The wound had nothing else to show. In fact, the rest of the body seemed to have nothing else that could be useful, except for one single odd trait Aleksey's trench coat had. "I found something" Thioro filmed the back of Aleksey's trench coat. There were many stains of black grease, like something covered in motor oil had slightly touched Aleksey's back. "I found grease on his back"

"Grease?" Khotso looked around "I see n-nothing around here that could be greasy"

"I don't remember Aleksey's trench coat being so greasy before. It must be new. For all we know this may be related to his murder" Thioro looked closer. The streaks of grease looked like they extended to the front of the body "I'm going to turn the body around"

"I'll catch it if it falls!" Dalia notified, getting closer to the bookshelf and extending her arms. Thioro managed to turn Aleksey's body around without it falling down to the floor. Indeed, there was more grease on the front of the body, but it was much more noticeable, the grease almost forming straight lines without any interruptions. There were two long lines, forming an X on the front of the trench coat.

 **Grease on the Body**

 _Aleksey's trench coat is stained with black grease. The back shows traces, but the front has a large X and is much dirtier than the back._

"Where's Matthew?" Azalea asked while Thioro filmed the grease. The detective shrugged, focused on his task.

"I don't know. Maybe he's investigating somewhere else _" So they didn't meet before coming here? I thought Matthew would have liked to check the body, since last time it went so well..._ Mentioning Matthew seemed to have reminded Thioro of something. The detective grabbed Aleksey's hand, paying attention to the wrist. "What the...?"

"What?"

"There's something on Aleksey's wrist. I think it's...I think he got injected with something. It looks recent" he said. _Just like Alistair?_ Did that mean something or was it just a coincidence?

 **Injection Mark**

 _Aleksey has a small injection mark on his wrist. It seems to be recent._

"Do you think it means something?"

Thioro let go of Aleksey's wrist. "I don't know. It could be related to this murder, or maybe...hmmm..." he seemed to be mulling something he wasn't prepared to share yet. While Thioro looked on top of the bookshelf, Dalia, who had been looking up and ready to catch the corpse if it fell down, pointed at the beams on the ceiling.

"Is it just me or there's something right there?"

"Where?" Khotso asked "I don't see a-anything..."

"No, there is something there, I can see it" maybe Runihura had good sight thanks to his talent, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the beam right above them. "There's a thick black line up there"

"Black? Like grease?" the astronomer remembered what Thioro had said not too long ago.

"It _could_ be grease. Dunno why it'd be on that beam, though..." Azalea forced her eyesight, trying to see in more detail the beam.

 **Grease Stain on a Beam**

 _The beam directly above the hallway to the side of where Aleksey was found has a vertical thick line of grease on it, like something greasy rubbed against the sides of it. There's no grease on the bottom of the beam._

"But it doesn't make sense..." Khotso mumbled "Why'd there be grease there?"

"Who knows. Maybe for the same reason why there's grease on Aleksey and over here" Thioro had crawled around eight feet away of the corpse, looking at the edge of the top of the bookshelf. He was rubbing with his finger something up there "There's more grease over here. Fresh"

"Was the killer covered with grease or what?" Runihura crossed his arms, confused.

"I think it's confirmed they were doing something that involved grease, there are marks of fingers up here"

"Fingers? Like fingerprints?" Azalea approached, hopeful. Thioro was a detective, if there was someone who'd be able to compare fingerprints it'd be him! The detective shook his head, quickly destroying Azalea's hopes of this case being solved quickly.

"More like prints of fingers. There are four thin lines, like somebody grabbed the edge here. I don't think the culprit was wearing gloves"

"Then the killer's ha-hands must be covered in grease, right?" Khotso showed his hands, spreading his fingers "Mine are c-clean..."

"Grease isn't that easy to get rid of, but with some effort the killer could have done it. Clean hands won't mean you're innocent"

 **Smudged Grease Fingerprints**

 _A few feet away from the body there are four marks of fingers, like the culprit grabbed the edge of the bookshelf. Unidentifiable. It's unlikely the culprit wore gloves._

"Do you think the killer climbed th-the bookshelf?" Khotso approached to the place where the fingerprints had been found "I don't see any more grease on here"

"I'll check" Dalia grabbed the middle of the bookshelf to climb but she was unable to do it, she was too large to do it. Runihura tried right after her but he was way too large too. _So only someone small would be able to climb the bookshelf...that's impossible! Someone small wouldn't have the strength to crack Aleksey's skull!_

Deciding to test the theory, Azalea stepped forward "Let me try" she said, attempting to climb the bookshelf, but she wasn't small enough either, her feet and hands weren't able to get deep enough for her to be able to climb all the way up without risking falling backwards. She barely had gotten halfway up when her fingers slipped. Thankfully, Runihura was able to catch her. Before falling she had seen something on the shelf. After thanking Runihura, she got Thioro's attention. "There's something over there!"

The detective laid down on the top, looking towards where Azalea was pointing. On the edge of the shelf there was what seemed to be a shoeprint, also too smudged to be able to identify who had left it. Thioro informed them about what he had found, and added: "I think it's made of some sort of gray powder"

"Then whoever has powder on their shoes is the culprit, right?" Dalia inquired.

"N-No, wait...what if it comes from something many of us have stepped on?" Khotso refuted "If it's something c-common, we'd risk accusing an innocent person..."

Thioro liked that reasoning. "Khotso is right, that'd be dangerous. We should take note of this footprint, though"

 **Footprint on the Shelf**

 _A footprint was found on one of the shelves of the bookshelf. The shoe that left it was covered in some sort of gray dust._

"I don't think we're going to find anything else here" Runihura said, taking back his video camera and watching what Thioro had recorded "What other places should we check?"

"It's generally a good idea to check the places near to the crime scene" There were way too many options, though, the Library was one of the many buildings around the Monobear plaza. They'd all need to cooperate to cover as much terrain as possible, but there was danger in letting one single person look for evidence in a place. What if that person was the culprit? Organizing everyone was pretty much impossible, though. There was no time to gather everybody and assign places. They all had to hope for the best.

Azalea left the Library before anyone else, running outside to take a look around the plaza. _Wait...this won't be so bad!_ There weren't as many places to check as she had thought! True, many buildings were placed here, but most of them were closed! The Diner and the Library were the only places open! Relieved to see that maybe things weren't going to be so bad, Azalea started descending the stairs towards the plaza. She looked around idly, not really expecting to see anything that could be a clue, but... _Why do I feel like something changed here?_ It was a strange feeling, like something was wrong in the Monobear plaza, but she couldn't pinpoint it yet. It took her a couple minutes to find what was so strange.

One of the claws of the Monobear statue pointing outwards was gone.

Puzzled, Azalea approached the Monobear statue, getting on the base and trying to look at the claw. Indeed, it was gone, somebody had broken off the claw. The claw was just a stone cone, small enough to hold in one's hand. It didn't seem like an element that'd be difficult to break from the statue. Why would someone break a claw?

 **Missing Stone Claw**

 _One of the claws of one of the Monobear statues is missing._

"Why are you up there, Azalea?" Dalia's voice sounded nearby. When Azalea looked down she saw her, standing aside Kamiya "Found something?"

"...no, I think it's nothing" It _could_ be nothing, she had no way of knowing.

"We're going to investigate the Diner. Get down here, I'd feel more confident about stuff if you join us"

It seemed like a good idea. Dalia was the only person Azalea could fully trust was innocent of this murder, and Kamiya was smart, he could be of help. Surely between the three of them they'd be able to find any clues that could be in the Diner! As soon as the three passed through the door, they all realized that they wouldn't have to look around too hard to find potential evidence.

It wasn't that the Diner was in disarray, but there were clear signs that several people had been in there recently. Whether it was related to the murder or not remained to be seen, but it wasn't like they could ignore anything. All potential clues needed to be analyzed. "Well, look at that! Something definitely happened here" Kamiya commented, approaching one of the tables. Right to its side there were many pieces, the pharmacist crouched to pick all them up and left them on the table. "...hey, you need to take a look at this!"

"What are those?" Azalea approached to take a better look. The pieces were all curved and large, but that wasn't the most interesting quality they had. What got their attention was how beautifully intricate and colorful those pieces were. Kamiya also had found what seemed to be a tiny model of a building. "Those are beautiful...but what is this supposed to be?"

"The pieces are large. We could assemble it right now" Dalia suggested, taking two of the pieces and connecting them. It didn't take long, thankfully all the pieces were so big they just had to connect them to have an idea of what it originally formed. Kamiya placed the model of a building between the pieces. "I had never seen something like this before..."

"Chances are you wouldn't have ever seen one ever" Kamiya said, astonished "This...this is a Fabergé Egg" Dalia's expression showed she didn't have the slightest idea of what that was "A Fabergé Egg is a jeweled egg, many of those were given to Russian tsars. They're _extremely_ valuable"

"...why was there an expensive Russian egg in this diner?" They looked at each other before the three of them got to the same conclusion, said at the same time:

"Aleksey"

"Of course. He's Russian, and he's a thief. I bet this was his valuable item" Kamiya supposed, disassembling the broken Fabergé Egg. Azalea scratched her thumbnail, thinking.

"...then we should wonder why and how this egg ended here, all broken. If this is Aleksey's treasure, then he wouldn't just leave it somewhere and walk away. Would that mean he was here in the Diner?"

"It's a possibility"

 **Fabergé Egg**

 _Found broken in the Diner, beside one of the tables. It's likely it belonged to Aleksey._

"Where did you find it?" Azalea asked to Kamiya, who pointed at the exact place where most of the pieces had been at. It was right beside one of the tables, and on that table there were two tall glasses. "So would it be right to think the egg was on this table before it fell to the floor and broke?"

"It could be right" Kamiya took one of the glasses, turned around so Azalea wouldn't see his face, and moved his gas mask aside enough to smell the inside of the glass "It smells like cranberry juice" he informed, turning around and putting his mask back on his face. Azalea imitated him with the other glass.

"And this one smells like...soda? It's sweet and feels fizzy"

"Hey, over here!" Dalia called from the other side of the Diner. She had been checking the rest of the tables, finding something on one of them: a third glass "I think somebody was sitting here too"

"Hmmm...that's kinda far from this table. That glass may be unrelated to these ones"

"But we should take note of it too" Azalea rightfully suggested. Everything that seemed to be out of place needed to be kept in mind, after all.

 **Three Glasses**

 _There were three recently used glasses in the Diner: two were on the table beside the pieces of the Fabergé Egg, the other was on a table on the other side of the Diner_

"We should keep looking around. There may be more clues somewhere else Azalea suggested, but Dalia stopped her, grabbing her delicately from her cardigan before she could start searching.

"You don't have to. I already checked everything here, there's nothing on the floor or in any other table"

"So we're done here?" Kamiya asked.

"No, there's a kitchen over there. We should take a look" she glanced at the glasses on the table "I heard you two say there was soda and juice in those glasses, so of course that came from the kitchen"

"Oh. I didn't know...I haven't ever been in this diner's kitchen before" Kamiya said, scratching sheepishly the back of his head "Heheh, guess there's a lot I don't know"

"It's over there, behind the counter. I'll show you guys around"

Kamiya and Azalea followed Dalia to the kitchen of the diner. At first sight it didn't seem like there was anything out of place. _I should look for soda and juice_. Given that those products were in the glasses, it made sense to at least make sure those could be obtained from the Diner. And indeed! While Kamiya looked into the fridge and Dalia opened drawers, Azalea checked the cabinets. In one of them there were rows of bottles of different products, available for anyone to come in and take them. Juices, lemonade, sodas, anything they could want. "Uh?" There was a space among the cranberry juices, which confirmed part of what they had already guessed, but almost all the soda bottles were gone. Judging from the rest of the rows, there should be a dozen 500 ml soda bottles. There were only two left. "Kamiya, how many sodas did Joanna and you use for the rocket bottles?"

"Five. Why do you ask?"

"Uh...nothing. I was just wondering" _Then there should be seven bottles here...why are there only two?_ Could it be other Hostages had taken them?

 **Missing Sodas**

 _There are five soda bottles missing from the kitchen of the Diner._

Azalea closed the cabinet and went to the rest, opening it. Inside there were boxes of cake, pie and other similar baked goods to make, as well as cooking oil and tins. Not finding anything strange there, Azalea went to the last cabinet. She had barely opened it when suddenly Kamiya shouted, lunging towards her. "Watch out!" he shouted, pulling her away from the cabinet.

"What's wrong?!" Azalea held her hand against her chest, feeling her rapidly beating heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack, Kamiya!"

Kamiya took a deep breath, sounding muffled behind the gas mask. "Be careful with that cabinet. There's liquid nitrogen inside!" to demonstrate, he opened the cabinet carefully, showing two silver containers inside. Indeed, the large labels on them revealed it was liquid nitrogen.

"Why does a diner have that?" Dalia wondered.

"You can make ice cream with liquid nitrogen. You'd be surprised at how tasty and smooth it ends being – not that liquid nitrogen is edible. It's complicated" Kamiya said. _There must be easier ways to make ice cream than using liquid nitrogen..._ Azalea touched the container, carefully taking one out and putting it on the counter. O _h?_ The lid on it should have a plastic cover on it, acting as a seal, but it was broken. _So this thing has been opened before?_

 **Liquid Nitrogen**

 _There are two containers of liquid nitrogen at the Diner's kitchen. The seal on one of them is broken._

The rest of the kitchen didn't seem to have anything that could be of use. Deciding they were done, the three started to leave. On the way out Azalea passed near the counter, noticing an object neither Dalia nor Kamiya had seen: on the counter, near packages of straws and many glasses, there was a small round object made of wood. _Is this a trophy base?_ It did seem to be a base for a trophy, although the trophy didn't seem to be anywhere nearby. Judging from the small pieces of metal glued to it, there used to be a trophy there. Azalea took the base, reading the plaque underneath it.

 **Trophy Base**

 _A small wooden base, found on the Diner counter. It says '20xx Physics Science Fair'_

Azalea pocketed the trophy base and went outside, where Dalia was waiting. Kamiya was nowhere to be seen. "Where's..."

"He went away; he says he wanted to check other places" she said. Once Azalea joined her, the ecologist crossed her arms, her brow furrowed in thought" Azalea, I have been thinking about the grease...about where it may have come...I don't know why, but I feel like I should know where it came from"

"Why? Do you remember seeing grease somewhere?"

"Yes, exactly, but I don't know where I saw it, but for some reason I keep thinking of Lucien when I try to focus. Weird, right?" Dalia tilted her head "Do you think I'm in love with him?"

"How do you expect me to know?"

"No, that can't be it, Lucien isn't my type. If it's not that, then—" suddenly, Dalia's eyes widened. Of course! So that's where she remembered seeing it! Without a word, Dalia started going in direction of the Stadium, prompting Azalea to follow her quickly "I had forgotten about this, I get it now!"

"Good, because I don't get it" Azalea mumbled, but Dalia ignored that.

When they got to the entrance of the Stadium, they found two people inside: Lucien and Elaine. Lucien was checking the many sports elements of the Stadium, while Elaine walked on the bleachers and jotted down notes. For a moment Azalea wondered if she was drawing another map, but Dalia didn't give her time to ask. "Lucien! Do you know anything about grease?"

Lucien didn't even turn his head around. He was inspecting the bikes. "Oh, I can think a lot of things to associate with grease. You wouldn't like what I have to say" Dalia stared blankly at him for a moment, not having understood, so she turned her head towards Azalea inquisitively.

"That was an insult"

"Oh. Stop that, you asshole!" Dalia smacked Lucien on the shoulder, making him wince and stand up, rubbing the sore spot where he had been hit.

"I didn't mean it! Besides, if you got here then it means you _do_ have an idea, don't you? Nice, Roble" seemingly satisfied with Dalia's deduction – or at least what he interpreted as her making a deduction – he stepped aside, pointing at the row of bikes "This must be what you were thinking about"

"...oh! Yes, he's right! Of course, Lucien and I were dealing with the bikes. So that's why I thought of him!" Dalia and Azalea approached to examine the bikes. It didn't take long for Azalea to notice what was wrong.

"The bike chain of this one is missing"

"This one doesn't have the chain either. This one's missing too!" Dalia was about to examine the rest of the bikes when Lucien stopped her, nodding slowly.

"All the bikes have their chains missing. They don't seem to be anywhere nearby"

 **Missing Bicycle Chains**

 _All the bicycles in the Stadium are missing their chains._

"What I don't know if why someone would take all the chains..." Lucien said, approaching Azalea "But the culprit must have been the one to do it. Nobody else would have any reason to take any of the chains. What do you think?"

"...I don't know"

"You don't know? This doesn't ring any bells at all, or anything?"

Azalea thought for a moment. It did, actually, but she didn't want to talk about it yet. Better wait for the trial for that. Seeing he wasn't going to get any answers from Azalea, Lucien turned around and shouted towards the bleachers. "Found anything yet, Elaine?"

"Not yet! I'd have thought somebody who did suspicious stuff here in the Stadium would have left...more evidence...than..." Elaine's voice trailed off, she froze, staring into the bleachers. Even though Azalea was at the other side of the Stadium, she noticed something was wrong. Elaine dropped everything she had in her hands and kneeled, saying something nobody could hear from the other side. She was moving frantically.

"Elaine, are you-?" Azalea asked.

"It's Matthew! Get here already!"

She didn't need to repeat that. Everyone hurried to the bleachers, finding Elaine trying to pull out someone out. Lucien stepped forward and helped her, laying down Matthew on the bleachers and feeling his pulse. "He's alive. Heartbeat seems normal"

"He was attacked?" Dalia wondered, not daring to approach. Elaine really didn't like the sound of that, the usually composed writer seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack.

"What do you mean 'he was attacked?'? Of course he was! Someone dared to attack my brother!" she shouted "He didn't simply faint and fall under the bleachers!"

"Calm down! We'll know once he wakes up" Lucien started to softly slap Matthew, trying to rouse him "McCoy. Wake up. Hey, hurry up" while he did that, he also looked carefully at Matthew's head and neck "I don't see anything strange. I don't think he was hit with anything"

"Could he have been drugged?" Azalea suggested. Lucien looked at her with an expression that showed his surprise at such suggestion, and slowly nodded.

"I guess that's a possibility. McCoy, wake up already" he continued attempting to rouse Matthew. It took a minute or two, but he finally started waking up. Elaine, having calmed down and recovered his usual calm, sat near him, avoiding to look at his face to hide how anxious she actually felt.

"How careless of you, Matthew. I thought you were smart enough not to let anyone get the best of you" she mumbled, writing a few notes. The knuckles of the hand that was grabbing the pen were stark white.

"...what? Why do you say...?" Matthew moved away his lens, rubbing his eyes tiredly and trying to cover them from the dim lighting "Why are you all in my cabin?"

"We're not in your cabin, dumbass. You're at the Stadium" Lucien replied, helping him sit "Your sister found you tucked away under the bleachers"

"...I'm at the Stadium? Why am I here...?"

"That's what we'd like you to tell us"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Azalea asked. Matthew looked at her blankly, grabbed his head and closed his eyes.

"...I don't know. My head feels weird..." he said. Lucien rubbed Matthew's face with a finger, making the engineer recoil a bit at the strange contact.

"I think it's confirmed he was drugged. His face feels oily; it could be some sort of drug"

"Like chloroform?" Elaine asked.

"Could be. I doubt it was chloroform, though. That's a rather slow-acting chemical" while Lucien was taking, Matthew stared at his hands...his _bare_ hands.

"Guys, where are my gloves?" he inquired. Everyone looked around, but there was no sign of Matthew's leather gloves, and he didn't have them in his pockets, either. The engineer kept moving groggily, he was in no condition to investigate at all. Nobody told him a body was found, instead Elaine said she preferred Matthew to rest.

Dalia crossed her arms. "Do you think someone drugged Matthew so he wouldn't be able to help?" Before Azalea could answer, Lucien interjected:

"Don't jump into conclusions. It's unlikely, but we can't rule out yet that Matthew did this to himself for one reason or another"

"What?!" Elaine bared her teeth, furious "Why'd my brother do something like knocking himself out?!"

Lucien smirked, as if he was going to say something nobody else had thought. "Why, to fool us and make us think he had nothing to do with what happened"

"You little—"

"I'm not saying he did it" Lucien hurried to say "I simply would like you all to stay on your toes. We can't say Matthew is innocent of anything just because we found him unconscious" As much as Azalea hated to admit it, he was right. Any killer trying to get away with murder would resort to quite strange plans. Sadly, it wasn't a stretch to imagine Matthew could have killed Aleksey and then drugged himself to seem more innocent. But then what about the gloves? That was a piece that didn't fully fit. How significant were his missing gloves?

It was decided Matthew would be left to rest at his cottage, Elaine offered to stay with him. "I know you'd rather me to help, but I want to stay with Matthew until the trial. There are no objections to my wishes, right?" There weren't. Dalia also offered to help take Matthew to the cabin, telling Azalea that it was up to her to find any clues they hadn't found yet. When they all left and Lucien and Azalea were left alone in the Stadium, he started looking at her with an intense expression. She pretended not to notice, but when she walked towards the way out of the Stadium he followed her.

"I'll investigate with you" he announced, not even bothering to ask if that was okay "I'd like to see you at work, Stravopoulos. This is a good chance for that" ...fine. As long as Lucien didn't get in the way, Azalea was fine with him tagging along. He may not be the friendliest person in Heavenly Resort, but at least he wasn't dimwitted.

"Where do you want to go?"

"I haven't checked the crime scene yet. That should be a good place for me to investigate"

Lucien wasn't the type of person to make small talk. He was rather focused on what he was going to do. He didn't say a word during the walk from the Stadium to the Library. When they entered the building and crossed the stone arch, Lucien looked around, with his hands on his hips. "The body is over here" Azalea said, going towards the far end of the Library. Lucien didn't move. "Lucien?"

"Tell me, do you know if anyone has checked the rest of the Library?"

"The...the rest?"

"There are five other 'halls' here between the bookshelves. Just because the body was found over there it doesn't mean that tiny place is the crime scene. We should think of this whole building as the crime scene" He wasn't wrong about that, although maybe 'the whole building' was too wide instead of too narrow. Azalea thought for a moment.

"I don't know if anyone has checked anywhere else..."

"Then let's do it. We can't rely on someone else having done it. Let's start with this one" Lucien pointed to the opposite side of the Library and went ahead.

The first two bookshelves showing nothing unusual, so they didn't spend long examining them, but in the third space they found clues something had happened. "Hey. How did any of you miss this?" Lucien gestured with his hand at the obviously damaged bookshelf and books. There even were many pieces of what seemed to be some sort of golden metal. _I don't know...I didn't think of taking a look here._ Somehow, saying that seemed like a bad idea. "Are you calling dibs on anything specific?"

"Not really..." Azalea said, sidestepping the strange transparent stains on the floor, barely visible. In the shadow of the bookshelf there was a small piece of paper. "I found something here!" she said, picking it up and extending it to read it better. It was nothing she expected.

 **QSO-160913+653228**

The piece of paper that was typed on was rigid, with an elegant pattern printed on it. The piece itself was carelessly ripped, the edges showing a lot of tearing. It was almost a small miracle the phrase on the piece of paper was complete. "It seems like some kind of code" Lucien said, taking the piece of paper without asking for permission.

"Do you think we have time to decipher it?"

"No way! But we'll have to during the trial. Let's see...the answer here is 814141. That doesn't ring any bells to me" _I don't think it's as simple as that, Lucien._

 **Piece of Paper**

 _A piece of rigid paper was found in the Library, a few rows away from Aleksey's body. It says 'QSO-160913+653228'_

"What do you think, Azalea?" he passed the piece of paper back. Azalea raised her eyebrows, a bit amused.

"Are you really asking for my opinion?"

Lucien shrugged, "You got through a trial despite having half of us against you. You can endure me asking you" despite his bluntness, Azalea could feel a hint of respect in his voice. Encouraged, Azalea analyzed the sentence for a moment, but she couldn't think of anything.

"I have no idea. If we knew where Aleksey got this we could make some progress, but...you see..."

"It could be a clue towards the culprit"

"In that case looks like we'll have to find some other way" Azalea murmured, storing the piece of paper for the trial. Lucien was about to say something potentially disparaging, but a familiar gasmask peeked from the other end of the bookshelf. "Hi, Kamiya"

"Hello...Kamiya" Lucien said, not welcoming at all. _Do you have something against him, Lucien?_ Kamiya didn't seem to care at all, approaching cheerfully.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one who thought it was a good idea to check the rest! Found anything, guys?"

"We just started"

"Then I'll help. Three pairs of eyes should work better than two" Kamiya said, immediately noticing the most obvious clue around "What happened here?"

"We were about to talk about it. Step aside" Lucien almost physically pushed Kamiya aside to take a better look at what the pharmacist was pointing at: the wood of the bookshelves. Azalea leaned forward to look at it closely, touching it with her finger. The wood was warped, sticky, wet and brittle, some parts were darker than the rest. The books also had some damage and wetness on them, harder to see, but it was there.

And on top of all that...the wood and the books felt cold. _That's odd..._

 **Damaged Bookshelves**

 _Some shelves away from where Aleksey was found, the wood of the bookshelves is warped and damaged. It feels noticeably cold to the touch._

Lucien imitated Azalea, finding how cold it was. "That's strange. The rest of the shelf isn't nearly as cold as this" when he approached the shelf to take a look at the higher spots, something on the floor made a nasty squishing sound. For a moment Azalea feared looking down, like she expected to see a dead mouse or something similar underneath Lucien's shoe. Lucien, not having such fears, looked down immediately, making a face of disgust. "What the hell...?"

"It's not a dead critter, right?" Azalea had shut her eyes tightly.

"No. It's...something sticky. The hell, seriously!" Lucien shook his shoe as if that was going to get rid of the stickiness. Kamiya, wanting to do something more productive, touched the suspicious sticky stains on the floor, even almost getting his gas mask on it. For a moment he even pushed it aside enough for him to smell the floor, neither Azalea nor Lucien seeing his face. "What do you think you're doing? That could be dangerous!" he said, grabbing the back of Kamiya's lab coat and pulling him up. The pharmacist adjusted his mask, thoughtful.

"It smells sweet"

"Do you know what it is?" Azalea inquired.

"No. It feels familiar, but I can't pinpoint what it could be" he said. Lucien crossed his arms, looking down. Indeed, there were what seemed to be puddles almost dried, leaving some kind of sweet residue.

"Is this what the shelves and the books are soaked with?"

"I think it could be. It smells sweet too"

"What the fuck? Why are you two sticking your noses into something that may be harmful to you?" Lucien muttered, looking closer at the puddles. They extended for quite a long way, almost to the balustrade that connected with the stone arch "A lot of whatever was spilled all the way here, but it's odd. Look, from here to where you two are it's a trail, and where you two are everything is wet"

"You mean like somebody intentionally spilled stuff in here? Why'd anyone do that?"

"I don't know. I'm certain it has to be important, it's such an odd action it can't be a trivial matter"

 **Spilled Liquid**

 _A few shelves away from where Aleksey was found, part of two bookshelves and books are very wet. It's all sticky and smells sweet. There's also a trails all the way to the end of the hall_

After examining the place for a while longer, the three of them decided to tackle the obvious clues around: the pieces of metal. "So, what do you think happened here?" Kamiya said, moving one with his foot. The three of them started picking up the pieces, there were dozens of them. Some were several inches wide, others were as small as a coin. Picking all the pieces they saw wasn't easy, they weren't even sure if they had picked up all of them.

"Something may have fallen from the top of the shelf" Azalea suggested, looking up. It wasn't that much of a stretch to think that, if the body had been found on top of a shelf, who said other stuff couldn't be up there too? Lucien wasn't sure of it, though:

"It would have to fall from a high spot for it shatter so badly"

"Easy: somebody intentionally broke this" Kamiya proposed "In that case this could be a valuable clue...if we could know what this was"

"Too bad. Assembling this would take way too long. We wouldn't have it ready for the trial"

"But we must try" Azalea said "It could be important evidence"

"Then do it _during_ the trial. Chances are we won't find the culprit immediately; you'll have time to do it"

Kamiya eyed the pieces of tin. "Do you really think that's going to be useful? I know I said it could be valuable, but we can't think it actually is"

"We won't know until it's assembled"

"Lucien is right. I'll look for glue later" Azalea pocketed all the pieces of golden tin, looking around to see what other clues there could be around here. There didn't seem to be anything else that could be of use, besides the damage on the books, it didn't seem like any had anything useful. "I don't see anything else..."

"I don't either. What about you, Lucien?"

"Take a guess" Lucien said, frowning. He was looking around the food with pensive expression "Guys, I don't know, but I feel like there's something missing here"

"What do you mean?"

He stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm not sure yet, but if my theory is right then there's something odd here, something that should be here but isn't. I can't seem to explain it"

"Whatever it is I'm sure we'll manage to think about something during the trial. I'm going to find that glue" Azalea said, leaving the bookshelves area. The NPCs had to know where to find some glue, so she went in direction of the Communal Building where the Petting Zoo was located. She had been about to enter when she heard steps on the stones, coming towards her.

"Lea! Wait! I have to show you something!"

It was Chrysanthe. Azalea turned around, opening the door of the building and shooting an inquisitive look to her sister. Chrysanthe had a bundle of something in his hands, which she was waving at Azalea. "I was in the Garden, trying to calm myself down, when I found these" she put the bundle in Azalea's hands.

"What's—EEEW!" _What the hell, Chrys? Warn me first!_ The bundle was actually a pair of thick leather gloves, completely covered in mud, grease and blood. "Where did you find these?"

"In the Garden, they were buried in the mud. The culprit didn't do a very good job there, I found it easily" Chrysanthe put a finger to her chin "At least I'm pretty sure the culprit must have used these, look at all that blood"

"Uh, maybe..." Azalea turned the dirty gloves around, gasping "Wait a second...these are Matthew's gloves!"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm completely sure, he didn't have them on before! Why were these buried in the Garden...?" The most likely explanation was one Azalea didn't want to think about, but it was a possibility she still couldn't reject. Chrysanthe covered her mouth in horror.

"Do you think Matthew is the culprit? I mean, these are his gloves and they're full of blood..."

"I don't know. Maybe. We'll see" _I don't want to think Matthew is the killer_. And the fact he was found under the bleachers of the Stadium made her believe easier that he wasn't the culprit, but still...did anything they found point at Matthew? Besides the gloves, nothing in particular seemed to be pointing at him.

 **Leather Gloves**

 _Found buried in the Garden. Thick and brown gloves made of leather and covered in blood, grease and mud._

"Oh my god...if Matthew is executed I don't know if Elaine would take it well" Chrysanthe closed her eyes "I don't know her well yet, but she seems the type that'd be passionate about defending him if anyone tries to take him down. If Matthew is the culprit I think Elaine would be the one everybody should worry about"

Azalea bit her lip. "That's true, I guess. I don't think there's much against Matthew, anyway, but if nobody can bring up another suspect he may be the one everyone votes for"

Chrysanthe shrugged and left shortly after that, leaving Azalea up to continue her search for glue. The administrators gave her a bottle of glue, telling her that it wouldn't be long before the trial started, and indeed, as soon as Azalea stepped out of the Petting Zoo there was Monobear's announcement to get to the train station to take part of the trial. The motivator looked into her pockets to make sure she was taking all the clues she had decided to bring to the trial.

Azalea didn't have any idea of who the killer was, but she had a suspicion already on who may _know_ something. Confronting them at the trial was going to be necessary, but bringing it as the very first topic of discussion may be a bad idea _. I don't know yet how I'll do this, but it'll have to be done._

 _I'll find Aleksey's killer...whoever it is!_


	14. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart V

The trial room didn't look too different from what it was before. The only addition was two gray portraits where Patricio and Aleksey used to stand, portraits with a large bloody X drawn on them. Azalea stared at them for a moment with determination before standing on her podium, where she put all the golden tin pieces she had recovered from the Library. While Monobear gave his spiel about the rules of the trial she opened the tube of glue, preparing everything for her to start assembling whatever object that was. Sshe'd have to divide her attention between trying to make sense of several dozen pieces and the trial, but she thought she'd be able to do it.

Spots and Stripes were at their places to the sides of the courtroom door, staring forward as if they were no more than statues. "Remember that you'll have one single chance to ask for our help" Spots said "Make sure to use it wisely"

"We won't let anyone beg for a second chance" Stripes added. Now that the protocol for the start of the trial was finished, they could all commence the discussion. Chrysanthe took out her Monobear File, reading it with disgusted expression.

"Uh, alright, let's see...the victim was Aleksey Seryogin, and he was killed at the Library. He was killed because someone hit him with something cold enough to cause frostbite. What could we talk about that?"

Vittoria crossed her arms and closed her eyes, thoughtful "Frostbite? Are we certain that could not be something else?"

"I checked the corpse. I'm positive it was frostbite" Thioro said.

"But that can't be right, there's no way something can be cold enough to cause frostbite" Kamiya weakly tried to refute, the lenses of his mask fogging up.

"I'm telling you, it was frostbite. I can't be wrong about it"

Lucien put away his Monobear File. "So let's see what's the crime weapon. Something like a large piece of very cold ice?"

Matthew, who seemed to be feeling better but still had a dazed look in his eyes, shook his head slowly. "Something so cold it'd leave frostbite would have hurt the killer's hands too. They'd need something thick and resistant to not suffer any cold burns." _There was something that could have been used to hold a freezing weapon, wasn't there?_

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony (being knocked out)

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Sticky Residues

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Leather Gloves**

* * *

Azalea took out the gloves out of the pocket of her cardigan, showing them high. "Chrys found these buried in the Garden. These gloves are thick enough for someone to hold a deadly cold object...maybe?"

"If it touched something _that_ cold then it should still be cold" Joanna pointed "How does it feel?" Thinking that Joanna could be right, Azalea prodded the palm of the gloves with a finger, grimacing at the filthiness of the objects.

"It's wet, but don't know if it's because it grabbed something cold" While Azalea said that, Thioro approached to take a closer look at the gloves. Once the detective was close enough to take a look, his pupils dilated, having recognized those objects. He immediately turned to face Matthew.

"Matthew. Can you explain why your gloves are clearly linked to this case?"

Matthew looked like a deer in the headlights, suddenly facing inquiries as if he was linked to the case. They didn't last long before Elaine intervened, talking calmly but with an underlying threat in her voice. "My brother can't be the culprit. He was drugged and left in the Stadium. He can't have done this."

"Are you sure?" Azalea dared to ask, applying glue to the edges of a few pieces. Elaine grit her teeth for a moment before haughtily staring at everyone.

"Tell me, how exactly do you guys propose Matthew drugged himself and managed to faint without leaving any clues?" Nobody could answer that. Satisfied, Elaine made a smug face. "That's what I wanted to hear: silence. Matthew isn't the killer"

Kamiya tilted his head. "So...does this mean he was knocked out so the killer could steal his gloves?"

"Th-That's what it sounds like...did he see who did that?" Khotso said, but Matthew was clueless. Seeing that they had gotten to a dead end, the astronomer decided to change topics "Okay, uh, let's see...leaving aside the gloves...do you guys know what's the weapon in this case?" _There aren't that many options of what it could be. What I don't understand is how the killer managed to kill Aleksey with that object..._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Footprint on the Shelf / Missing Stone Claw / Pieces of Metal / Grease on the Body / Grease Stains on a Beam_

* * *

CHRYSANTHE: So, if Aleksey died in the Library...

CHRYSANTHE: Would that mean the weapon came from ** _the Library_**?

MATTHEW: Aleksey didn't get hit by a thesaurus or something!

KHOTSO: The killer m-must have **_brought the w-weapon_** with them

LUCIEN: Consider this:

LUCIEN: Aleksey was found on a shelf.

LUCIEN: He could have **_fallen_** from the top of a shelf.

VITTORIA: Those bookshelves are tall enough for the fall to kill him

JOANNA: That wouldn't explain the frostbite

JOANNA: It could have been **_ice_**.

LUCIEN: Fine. Let's check the evidence

LUCIEN: Stravopoulos, check the gloves.

LUCIEN: The grease may reveal something about the weapon.

* * *

"That won't be necessary" Azalea said, pushing the gloves further away from her "I think what killed Aleksey was the claw"

Lucien made a face of confusion. "The...claw? You mean like a crane?"

"No, like the claws of that bear we all know. There are statues at the plaza, and one of them lacks one claw"

"So you think the killer took that claw and bludgeoned Aleksey with it?" Elaine thought for a moment "How does that explain the frostbite?"

"Uh, it...it doesn't, but it's the only thing that'd make sense. Nothing else found could have been the weapon"

"Then show the claw to us"

"I don't have it"

Elaine looked at Azalea from over her glasses. "Then we can't say that's the murder weapon. If nobody found it, then—"

Vittoria sighed. "Are we going to start the same discussion from last trial about having the evidence right here with us?"

"Let's avoid that" Lucien said, taking out something from his pocket "I found this at the Library right before coming here. It must be the claw Stravopoulos is talking about" he raised the claw high in the air for everyone to see. The tip was broken, almost pulverized, and a lot of the claw was covered in blood. _So that really was the murder weapon!_

"But that doesn't explain the frostbite" Chrysanthe said. Khotso sank a bit into his galaxy-patterned thing on his shoulders, thoughtful.

"It could be because of something else th-that isn't the murder weapon. Let's put the f-frostbite aside for now"

"Yeah, there are other things to discuss. For example...what about the crime scene?" Elaine proposed.

Dalia frowned. "What about it? It was the Library"

"Look, I really, really doubt Aleksey died on top of that bookshelf. He must have been killed somewhere else and brought into the Library" _Elaine isn't wrong; he can't have been killed up there. We should set the record straight as to where exactly Aleksey died._ Azalea looked up from what she was doing.

"That's not so complicated. Aleksey died..."

* * *

 _At the Diner_

 _At the plaza_

 _At the Library_

 _At the Stadium_

* * *

 ** _At the Library_**

* * *

"...he died at the Library, but it wasn't on that bookshelf"

"Ah, so it was on the ground right to the side where h-he was found..." to Khotso that seemed like the logical conclusion, notion Kamiya hurried to dispel.

"No, that's wrong. We found a lot of clues on the other side of the Library, the real spot where Aleksey died!"

"And I suppose you got proof of it? What's this – this proof you're talking about?" Kouma demanded, cautious. Kamiya pointed at Azalea and Lucien, his eyes shining behind the gas mask.

"They can back me up, we all found a place where everything was cold and broken...and it showed signs of having been cleaned!"

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware of _that_ part"

"But you two saw it! The puddles, the everything, the killer cleaned the scene!"

"That wasn't someone trying to clean up, that was...I'm not sure what it was, but I don't think it was someone trying to clean anything"

"Why'd anyone leave that place wet if it wasn't to clean?"

"Where did you get that weird idea? Nobody tried to clean anything!" Azalea hurried to clarify, although it was true that was likely to be the crime scene, they couldn't tolerate any type of misinformation "What we found actually was..."

* * *

 _Soda_

 _Water_

 _Blood_

 _Grease_

* * *

 ** _Soda_**

* * *

"It was soda. Soda can dissolve blood...right?" she turned to Kamiya – the most likely person to know about that – but he shrugged. "Anyways, we're sure it was soda!"

"You said Aleksey died there" Chrysanthe said.

"Uh...yeah, I said that, I just also said I don't think anything was cleaned because soda—"

"He died there" Lucien interrupted. The absolute certainty in his tone didn't go unnoticed to anyone, but nobody tried to argue it. Runihura took off his cap, scratching his head.

"Okay, let's say he died right there...so that means the body was moved across the Library. I'm pretty sure that wound would have bled a lot, why was there no blood anywhere? I have a video of the corpse in my camera, I know that injury would bleed" Vittoria requested Runihura to give her the video camera, wanting to watch the video.

"That's a good question" Azalea admitted "There was blood dripping down from the shelf, it should have bled while it was moved" _There must be an explanation for that..._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Three Glasses / Leather Gloves / Missing Bottles of Soda / Fabergé Egg / Stone Claw_

* * *

LUCIEN: Aleksey's body **bled considerably**.

LUCIEN: The culprit must have done **_something_** to avoid that.

KHOTSO: Couldn't they just...clean the blood later?

RUNIHURA: There were **no signs** of anything being cleaned.

ELAINE: Aleksey wasn't light, and there's no wheelbarrow involved this time.

ELAINE: He must have been carried by **the culprit's own strength**.

LUCIEN: Would your brother be capable of doing that?

ELAINE: S-Shut up! **He couldn't have carried** Aleksey, I'm sure of that!

* * *

"Wait, that's right! Lucien, thank you!" Azalea's momentary elation diminished a bit when she glanced at the dirty gloves in front of her "Maybe the blood on these gloves have something to do with how there's no blood on the floor!"

Kouma's eyes widened. "You mean – like what Patricio did?"

"That'd make sense! If the killer held their hand against the wound that's stop most of the bleeding" Matthew's shoulders slumped, he stared at his shoes "...why did the killer have to use my gloves, seriously..."

Not everyone was completely convinced about that explanation, though. Elaine was the most vocal one from that faction. "Chrysanthe, get over here!" she ordered. Chrysanthe approached, unsure of where this was going "I want you to lie limp, I'll try to drag you to the other side of this courtroom"

"Alright..." she obeyed, letting herself be caught by Elaine. The writer put her hand on the back of Chrysanthe's head and started dragging her with a lot of difficulty, having to press Chrysanthe against her body so the gardener wouldn't slip and fall.

"Do you all see this?" Elaine shouted "Look how difficult this is. I can barely hold onto Chrysanthe!"

"But that doesn't mean the killer had the same trouble than you..." Dalia said, sounding very uncertain. Elaine didn't mind, though.

"That's not the only problem. Look, I don't think that hand would stop all the bleeding. The culprit would be covered with blood once they were done"

Vittoria looked around. "It does not look like anyone changed their clothes or cleaned them recently. I do not think there even was time to do such thing"

"Exactly. Unless there's some easier way to carry Aleksey, there's just no way the culprit was completely clean"

After a moment of doubt, Vittoria looked at Matthew. "How did you do it, Sir Matthew?" the sudden question got Matthew stammering and Elaine dropping Chrysanthe to the floor. While the gardener dejectedly returned to her podium, the writer could only stare at Vittoria.

"What...? Vittoria, you don't really think Matthew..."

"I am truly sorry, Elaine, but I do. I suspect your brother from being the culprit"

"But you're not an idiot! Why'd you think that?!"

Vittoria showed Runihura's video camera "It is mostly because of his gloves. I have noticed the victim's body was rather sullied with grease, was not it?" the people who had seen it nodded "And the only clothing we see that shows traces of grease is those gloves. And given that your brother is the owner of these gloves..."

"But Matthew said he was drugged and his gloves were stolen—" Chrysanthe tried to argue on Matthew's defense, but Vittoria wasn't having any of it. She raised a gloved hand to stop her.

"That is what Sir Matthew says. He says he was drugged, but that could be something he is faking. Consider this: Sir Matthew committed the murder, got rid of those gloves, and went to the Stadium to pretend to have been drugged"

Elaine seemed to be recovering, glaring at Vittoria, sneering a bit "That has to be the most stupid theory I have ever heard"

"Does that mean you have a counter?"

The sneer was gone but Elaine wasn't any less cold. "I don't have a good counter, but common sense—"

"Then you can not say it is a stupid theory" Vittoria brushed Elaine off and continued "The lack of grease on the rest of us point towards Sir Matthew, being the only person with an article of clothing dirty with grease. He could not get rid of them or leave them behind, that would arouse suspicion. That is why pretending they got stolen was the only solution"

Thioro opened his mouth for the first time since the trial started: "That isn't an awful theory. I don't fully agree with it, but it makes some sense"

"What are you saying?! It doesn't make any sense!" Elaine protested, slamming her hand on her podium.

"I said I don't fully agree with it, but you have to admit it's not as outlandish as it sounds at first glance"

Encouraged by the detective's halfhearted approval, Vittoria continued. "You may be wondering why there is grease in the first place. I think it may be related to how Sir Aleksey's body was on the bookshelf. Sir Matthew lifted the body up – possibly with a rudimentary pulley system – and managed to place it up there, that is when his gloves got stained"

 _Something doesn't ring true here..._ "Can I watch the video for a moment?" Azalea requested, extending her hand. Once Vittoria passed her the camera, Azalea watched the video Thioro had taken, the video showed all the clues Thioro had taken note of. The mortal wound, the grease, the injection, everything that was on the body. The corners of Azalea's mouth twitched upwards, momentarily elated she had been able to find a hole in Vittoria's theory – or at least a hole she would be able to attack easily. "Vittoria, I don't agree. You're wrong!"

Vittoria stared at Azalea for a moment. "Are you sure about that?"

"Completely sure! I mean it, there's a fact you're not aware of, and that's why you're wrong!"

 **I AM PREPARED**

"You sound confident, Lady Azalea. I like that" Vittoria closed her eyes, her face having a sweet expression "I am willing to cross swords with you. Are you sure you want to do it?"

"Of course I'm sure"

"Then I, Vittoria, shall accept your challenge. Let the best argument win"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Warped Wood / Piece of Paper / Smudged Grease Fingerprints / Stone Claw / Footprint on the Shelf_

* * *

VITTORIA: I admit the evidence against Sir Matthew is...tenuous

VITTORIA: But what we already have is enough.

VITTORIA: His gloves are the main clue against him.

VITTORIA: They are the center of this whole plan.

VITTORIA: They touched the blood, the grease...

VITTORIA: Of course he would be the main suspect here

AZALEA: But that'd only be if you think he's lying

AZALEA: If he's telling the truth he may be framed!

VITTORIA: There had to be **easier ways** to frame him.

VITTORIA: Supposedly drugging him to get to **the gloves**...

VITTORIA: That would be too much of a hassle.

VITTORIA: Besides, **every clue** in the Library...

VITTORIA: ...could be easily linked to the gloves.

VITTORIA: Until then we must suppose Sir Matthew is the culprit.

VITTORIA: Unless you can prove **someone else** was wearing the gloves?

* * *

"You shouldn't say it with such absolutes. Not every single clue is related to the gloves"

"Then I will amend what I said: every clue on and near the body can be linked to those gloves"

Azalea shook her head. "That's where you're wrong. There's one important piece of evidence that doesn't fit a scenario where someone is wearing the gloves" she pointed at Thioro "Thioro found handprints near the body, fingerprints made with the grease"

"Hand...prints?" Vittoria's expression changed, looking more uncertain than she did before "I do not recall any handprints anywhere in the video..."

Thioro clutched his tie. "That's because I forgot to film those. My bad"

"Thioro! How careless of you!" Vittoria shook her head, pressing her fingers against her temple "How did those fingerprints look?"

"Smudged and unidentifiable except for one thing" Thioro showed his hand and spread his fingers "They were too thin to have been made with those gloves. The person who touched the shelf wasn't wearing them"

Vittoria made a pained expression. "...I had no idea those prints existed...describe them more, please"

"The prints were made of grease, and held no identifiable marks. It looked to me like someone had been holding onto the edge of the shelf, like this" Thioro demonstrated with his own hand and hos podium.

"It sounds like somebody let themselves fall from the top of the shelf" Chrysanthe stared at her fingers "Then the killer should have grease stains, right?"

"Not really. They could have washed their hands" Thioro said.

"What matters is that now we have another clue" Elaine thought for a moment. There was something that didn't fit, now that she thought about the bookshelf and those fingerprints... "Why was the body on top of the bookshelf? Just to mess with us and ramp up the drama?"

"No way. Besides, did the killer catch Aleksey in the Library and decided to kill him with a surprise attack? Let's think about that"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Three Glasses / Trophy Base / Footprint on the Shelf / Grease Stains on a Beam / Fabergé Egg_

* * *

LUCIEN: Let's make things clear:

LUCIEN: There's no way Aleksey was **prancing on the bookshelves**.

KHOTSO: Does that mean **_the killer was_**?

LUCIEN: No! It means Aleksey **wasn't killed up there**.

LUCIEN: It was on the other side of the Library like I already said.

ELAINE: Forget about the where and think about the why.

ELAINE: There must be a reason to kill Aleksey.

ELAINE: If we pinpoint the motive, we'll start solving this case.

CHRYSANTHE: Would someone kill for **_their treasure?_**

KOUMA: Well – Aleksey was a thief...

KOUMA: He may have tried to **_steal a treasure_**.

MATTHEW: You forget a possible answer:

MATTHEW: It was **_self-defense_**.

MATTHEW: Or the killer just found Aleksey in the Library...

MATTHEW: ...and decided to kill him just **_to get out of here._**

THIORO: What we need now is a way to narrow it down to one single motive.

* * *

Even thinking that Aleksey was on the bookshelves while he was alive was ridiculous. Why would he do such thing? And while the crime scene itself a few bookshelves away did show the exact place where Aleksey was killed, nothing there showed the reason why he was killed. It was likely it all started at the Diner. "Uh, I don't have any good evidence, but I think there may be enough to...to maybe guess why Aleksey died?"

"Do we have such thing?" Joanna asked

"I mean – it's better than just staring at each other. There's something Kamiya, Dalia and I found at the Diner, pieces of something called a Fabergé Egg. We think it may have belonged to Aleksey"

"Are not those the expensive eggs Russian czars used to have? Why would Aleksey own one?" Vittoria wondered.

"He must have stolen it from somewhere" Runihura said "Why's it broken in the Diner? Did he break it?"

Something in such theory made Kamiya snap his fingers. Yeah, that could be it! "Wait, what if it was the killer who broke the egg? And then Aleksey...what if Aleksey tried to kill the culprit and was murdered in self-defense?"

The idea that Aleksey may have been killed because he attempted murder caused a disruption through the courtroom. "I knew his thieving would lead to this!" Dalia was shouting "It was matter of time!"

"I almost can't believe it myself...he tried to kill someone just for a virtual egg?"

"Do not say that. We have no confirmation Sir Aleksey tried such thing" Vittoria reminded them "This is no more than a theory right now. It does make sense, though. That would explain why Aleksey was killed, it is an explanation we can not ignore" _But is it right? Did Aleksey die because he tried to murder the person who broke the egg? It does make some sense, but there's something odd about it all._ Azalea glued together another two pieces, mulling the theory.

At least it seemed like that until Elaine took the helm. "Wait a second here. Before we continue I want to know everything that was in the Diner. Come on, lay it all on me" she said, taking her notebook to write everything she was going to get told. Being one of the three who saw everything, Azalea enumerated everything she had seen at the Diner, Elaine listening intently. Once it was done, Elaine tapped her pen against the notebook, frowning "Something is wrong"

Thioro smiled, as if he knew something the rest didn't. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, there's something that doesn't fit. It's weird that nobody has come forward and given us some kind of testimony"

"Because nobody saw anything" Kamiya added "Nobody can talk about something they didn't see"

 _But she isn't wrong, it's strange._ That may have been what was bothering her not too long ago. "But someone should have seen something, at least the moment when the egg was broken. Did anyone see it?" Azalea inquired. Nobody said anything. After a pause of a minute, Azalea started feeling a disquieting and foreboding feeling "Come on, if you saw something then talk now!"

"No one says anything because nobody saw anything" Matthew said. He didn't see why they were pressuring like this for somebody to talk. Azalea left aside the pieces of the object she was assembling, thinking.

"It just doesn't make any sense. Our lives are at stake. Someone must have seen anything" before anyone else asked what she meant, she added: "I'm saying that because of this:"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony (being knocked out)

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Sticky Residues

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Three Glasses**

* * *

"There were three glasses at the diner: two on the table right to the side of the broken egg, and one on the other side of the dinner. That means there were three people at once at the Diner when the egg broke"

"Just because there were three glasses it doesn't mean they were all there at the same time" Dalia pointed.

"Uh, you're not wrong, but..."

"But Azalea isn't wrong" Thioro intervened, raising his voice. He tightened his tie a bit before talking with voice that denoted his experience in crime investigation "Those glasses aren't the only element that shows multiple people were involved at key times of the crime"

"Of the crime? You have proof, right?" Kamiya asked.

"I do. There are many clues that confirm my reasoning"

Dalia shook her head "But if there was any witness, we'd have heard about it. I don't get it, why'd anyone keep silent about it?"

"Our lives are at risk here. Anyone would tell what they saw, unless..." Elaine chewed the tip of her thumb "There are two possibilities: one is that this third person is protecting the culprit, and the other..."

"The other is that this third person is an accomplice" Thioro said "And that's what I think:

This wasn't the work of one single person. This murder was committed by **a culprit and an accomplice"**


	15. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart VI

The thought that not only one but two people were involved in Aleksey's death made everyone think twice of what was going on. It was not confirmed, but right now a few things did point at the possibility there was an accomplice. "Why would anyone help to kill Aleksey? That's what I don't get..." Azalea murmured to herself. The same sentiment seemed to be in Elaine's mind, judging from her expression. The writer seemed to be especially willing to involve herself in the trial – no surprise there, Matthew was the only suspect just a moment ago, even if it was a weak suspicion.

"This is insane...why would anyone help to kill somebody?" Chrysanthe clutched her flower pendant. Two people working together to commit murder, how did they even get together to do that?

"There must be a benefit to that" Vittoria proposed "I know what I am talking about. Nobody does something shady if there is not something to gain from it"

Steam came out of Kamiya's gas mask. The pharmacist seemed to be losing a bit of his usual composure. "A benefit? We'll all _die_ unless the killer is caught! There's no benefit an accomplice will gain!"

"But it's undeniable someone helped the killer—" Matthew tried to say, just to be interrupted by Khotso. The usually meek astronomer raised his voice, like a mouse trying to sound assertive.

"U-Undeniable? There isn't much proof, it's not confirmed in a-any way"

"Sir Thioro mentioned a couple things that do point towards an accomplice existing. You can not deny those exist"

Lucien crossed his arms. "No. All Thioro presented was a theory. That's not proof"

"Besides, r-remember what Thioro did last trial? He accused Chrysanthe and it was wrong, she wasn't the killer. What if he's wrong this t-time too?" Khotso pushed back too. The slight to Thioro's detective skills wasn't welcome, he immediately glared at Khotso.

"I'm not a perfect detective but that doesn't mean I'm wrong all the time! I'm competent!"

"I don't know - I heard you thought the flying train was like that because of magnets" Kouma pointed, smirking with amusement at the rumor. Thioro deflated a bit.

"Well it's because it made sense at the time, but—"

"Was not Thioro who also tried to pluck out cameras out of the Monobear statue?" Vittoria asked to the person nearest to her, loud enough for everyone to hear what she said.

"It was. He also believed the admins could be short people in disguise and that there was a camera focused exclusively on his toilet" Joanna said "You should have heard how he raved about that when he asked if he could examine my bathroom—"

"That was a tiny mistake, how was I supposed to know that wasn't a lens but a spot on the wood?" Thioro was blushing a bit.

"Thioro may be a decent detective, but I'm not fully convinced there was an accomplice. If it's true, then anyone siding with him should be able to prove their case"

Elaine stood a bit closer to Thioro. "I'm with Thioro on this one. I think an accomplice may have been the one to get my brother's gloves while the culprit prepared whatever weapon was used"

The Hostages were once again in two different camps. Vittoria adjusted her gloves, calm. "Looks like we differ regarding this concrete topic. Should we do the same we did last trial?"

"That's not up to you. I'm the one who decides if you must" Monobear tilted his head "But it's fun, isn't it? Two people cooperating to commit murder! Oh, could it be even more than that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucien asked

"You know what they say: the couple that slays together stays together!"

"Nobody says that!" Chrysanthe said "Who'd get a relationship in this...this stupid game?" Monobear waved at her dismissively, grabbing a level beside his throne.

"That's because you'll end being Christmas cake. Anyways, let's make this a good match!" he pulled from the lever, the podiums starting to move and turning into the face-to-face arrangement that had been used last time. Azalea grabbed the edges of the podium, stopping any wayward pieces from falling down, and watched the Hostages get settled into their new spots. It was time to argue on behalf of their theory.

* * *

 **SCRUM DEBATE**

* * *

Azalea: fingerprints

Thioro: the body

Elaine: line on the ceiling beam

Matthew: Too many things

Chrysanthe: gloves

Vittoria: Matthew

* * *

DALIA: Your theory relies on the glasses. If there's nothing else...

AZALEA: But what about the **fingerprints** on the shelf?

KHOTSO: T-The single culprit could have done those. Taking o-off the gloves—

THIORO: And **the body** can't have been lifted by one single person!

KAMIYA: Someone could have stood on the top and pulled from the body

ELAINE: That wouldn't explain that **line on the ceiling beam**.

RUNIHURA: That's just another part of the killer's plan!

CHRYSANTHE: The killer must have been wearing **gloves** when handling the body. Why are there no greasy fingerprints on it?

LUCIEN: That's because...at that point the killer wasn't...using gloves anymore...?

VITTORIA: You're running out of excuses. You forgot about **Matthew**.

JOANNA: What about Matthew?

MATTHEW: There are **too many things** for a single person to have done. There must have been an accomplice!

* * *

When push came to shove, the undeniable truth is that they lacked convincing and undeniable proof. The side that believed there had been an accomplice had supported their supposition on the logistics of Aleksey's body reaching the top of the shelf, but was that enough? Hardly. _We're going to have to think of some way to prove it later._ At least it seemed their arguments had managed to stump the opposing side for now, even though none of them looked convinced at all. Kamiya was the one who looked the most frustrated, even though his face was still hidden behind that mask, the way he was clenching his fists and shaking his head was enough for everyone to know he was way angrier than they had seen him so far.

"This is ridiculous. We can't really believe there's an accomplice" he said. Kouma passed her hands through her short hair, sighing.

"But it's not like any of us countered their points – they have the upper hand"

"So what? This is a trial, let's talk about this!"

"Does that mean you have an idea?" Lucien asked. Kamiya snorted, grabbing his mask and holding it tighter against his face.

"Who cares! I'm just saying what they have isn't enough!"

Azalea narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so stressed? You weren't like this at the beginning or last trial..."

 **DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ME!**

Kamiya had yelled that, his lab coat billowing behind him. "I just can't let this trial go like this. An accomplice? It just...it doesn't make sense there'd be an accomplice"

"But it's impossible for one single person, the body—"

"I know what you're saying about the body, but that isn't enough! Azalea, we need proof, and you have no good proof yet. I bet I can find a hole in your argument if you give me the chance!"

"Then go ahead. Find a hole"

The pharmacist shook his head again. "You don't know what you're doing, you don't get it...fine! Let's do it!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Missing Bottles of Soda / Grease on the Body / Suspicious Puddles / Smudged Grease Fingerprints / Missing Bicycle Chains_

* * *

KAMIYA: The mechanism you were talking about...

KAMIYA: It can be done by one single person.

KAMIYA: And those glasses aren't good enough either.

KAMIYA: The glasses could have been left at the Diner anytime.

KAMIYA: You can't prove when exactly they were left there.

KAMIYA: Matthew getting knocked out can be done by one person too.

KAMIYA: See? All three of your arguments can be done just by the culprit

AZALEA: ...that's it?

AZALEA: You're pretty much covering your ears and refusing to listen!

KAMIYA: What else do you expect me to do?

KAMIYA: You got nothing!

KAMIYA: If you could even prove a **relation between the Diner and the murder**...

KAMIYA: ...maybe you'd have something.

KAMIYA: The glasses don't count.

KAMIYA: You got nothing.

* * *

A relation...even if it was a tenuous relation? It was worth a try, at least, and if Kamiya didn't accept it, then she'd think of something else. "Something from the Diner appeared at the Library"

Kamiya put his hands on his hips "Really? Whatever it is, I bet it could have been obtained somewhere else. Unless it's something that could only come from the Diner—"

"But it is unlikely it was obtained anywhere else. It's the soda, the culprit and the accomplice obtained it from there"

"It could have been obtained anytime after these three people were at the Diner"

"Really? Do you all think there was time for three people to be at the Diner and then for more people to get there after these three left?"

"If it was just to pick up soda then yeah"

 _...she's not wrong about that, it'd take little time_. "And what if the soda wasn't the only thing from the Diner we found at the crime scene? There's something else we found that was obtained there"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony (being knocked out)

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Pieces of Metal**

* * *

"At the crime scene we found many pieces of metal, and I'm pretty sure it's from something that was once at the Diner"

"Why? What's that object?" Thioro seemed truly clueless as to what Azalea and the others had found. He was a detective, but he wasn't omniscient. Azalea grabbed what she had assembled so far, ready to show it to everyone.

"This is the object from the Diner we found!"

* * *

 _A trophy_

 _A Fabergé Egg_

 _A glass_

 _A bottle of soda_

* * *

 ** _A trophy_**

* * *

The object Azalea had in her hands was still broken, but there was enough to see what it was: a golden tin trophy, lacking its base. While the exact shape of the trophy was unknown, Kamiya and Lucien could clearly see the shine was the same of the pieces they had found. The pharmacist was very glad his face was hidden by his gas mask. "That's a trophy...wait a minute..."

"At the Diner there are shelves of trophies, easily reachable. It'd be easy for the culprit or accomplice to take them"

"It wouldn't be that easy" Thioro said "I once tried to open the cabinet where those shelves were, and the cabinet itself was pretty tough. I'd say it took me several minutes to open it"

Khotso tried to get their attention "I don't think they'd have 'several minutes' to spend. Now that I think about it, there's too m-much stuff from too many places...it'd be impossible for one single person to d-do all that"

"What do you mean?" Vittoria asked.

"We know there were o-objects from many places: the D-Diner, the Library, the Stadium...and the claw from the statue and Matthew's g-gloves...it's too much stuff to get at o-once, right?"

Lucien leaned his head on his fist. "Khotso's not wrong, it's too many places for one single person. That should confirm there was an accomplice"

Elaine, who had been listening to all them, raised her hand, looking at Azalea. "Do you guys think that trophy Azalea has may be the crime scene? I think it may have been"

"It's a blunt object and it's broken. Maybe it broke when Aleksey was hit with it" Chrysanthe contributed.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking"

"But how was it so cold? That's still unanswered" Kouma pointed. _She's not wrong, we need to know how exactly Aleksey got frostbite. Is the trophy related to that somehow?_

"Whatever. Hey, Azalea, keep fixing that thing. That trophy may have been chosen for some reason" Dalia advised, receiving confirmation from Azalea that that was what she was doing. While Azalea worked on the trophy, everyone else changed to another topic.

"Excuse me, did we find out how did the body got on top of the top of that bookshelf?" Vittoria inquired.

"We know an accomplice must have d-done it, but we don't know yet how exactly it happened" Khotso said "Can we even find out...?"

Kouma went forward, getting everybody's attention. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's do this ourselves. The detective said – he said the body had a few odd things. If we do the same it has – we may find out how it happened"

"It's worth a try. How're we going to do it?" Thioro asked. Kouma told him to get to where she was standing, opening her arms from side to side.

"What did the body have and how did it look? Come on – tell us"

"It had grease marks over here..." Thioro traced a large X all over Kouma's front, slowly walking towards her back "There were a few more over here, but it was nothing worth talking about"

"What else did it have?"

"It had nothing else, but there was more grease over there" Thioro pointed upwards, to a rafter over their heads "That's all we have to work with"

"That's it? I thought there'd be more to work with!" Kouma complained, returning to her podium "So we need something that could be used to get a body up there – and that one or two people can work with"

"Whatever it was, it was full of g-grease..." Khotso said.

Elaine flipped a few pages in her writing. "There can't be that many stuff with grease in this virtual resort so let's think of it in some other way. The killer may have used grease to lubricate something"

"Couldn't they have used oil or something?" Joanna murmured "No, I bet the mechanism they used had lots of grease in the first place"

"Then what was it, since you have so many ideas about that?" the writer didn't seem happy at all to be defied like that. _It's true there aren't many objects with grease, but there's something that stands out._

Not wanting to leave Elaine defenseless against a question she may not know the answer to, Azalea intervened. "What if it was this:"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony (being knocked out)

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Missing Bicycle Chains**

* * *

"What if what was used was bicycle chains?"

"Bike...chains...?" Lucien didn't seem completely convinced. He crossed his arms, skeptic. "I guess those are full of grease, but are those strong enough to handle the weight of a dead body?"

"Depends on how many chains were holding the body" Runihura said.

"The chains of all the bikes were missing, that'd mean there were around twenty chains in total"

"Twenty? Bicycle chains are not that long, but maybe..." Vittoria looked upwards, visualizing how that'd have worked "It could work. It's risky, but it could work"

"How did the killer or the accomplice get all those bike chains to the Library? There were twenty – that's too many to carry in plain sight" Kouma said "Anyone would think it's suspicious – but nobody saw anything"

"They must have managed to carry it hidden somehow" Elaine said.

"Then how? It's all – you know, full of grease. That's not easy to hide"

"Kouma is right! And now that I think about it...I have an idea!" Runihura looked at everyone "The murder was just a couple hours ago, and it doesn't look like nobody here has changed their clothes. What if someone here has grease stains somewhere in their clothes?"

"That's not a bad idea. Ho-How're we going to check?" Khotso said.

Thioro loosened his tie, looking very awkward. "We may have to take off our clothes"

Pretty much half of the Hostages immediately rejected the idea very loudly. "I'm not going to get naked here in front of everybody!" Dalia shouted.

"I concur. I have a lot more love for myself than that" Vittoria said.

"Madness! You can't convince me to do that!" _God this is getting nowhere._

Joanna plinked the strings of her violin, her fingers a bit tense. "Looks like nobody's stripping here. There must be an easier way of finding out other than that"

"If we focused on a single person to check instead of on all of us..." Kamiya trailed off "It'd look suspicious if they refused, but it isn't like we can take away everyone at turns to do that. If we're going to check clothes, we'll have only one chance, two at most"

"Why only one?"

"Because the culprit will take the chance to hide behind the waste of time that one chance was if we don't hit jackpot" _He's not wrong. We either hit the right person on the first try or we can forget about this plan._

"But there are thirteen people here. You know what are the odds of guessing who may have grease stains on them? Hell, we don't even know if those grease stains exist!" Elaine said. Khotso glared at her, looking far from intimidating.

"Y-You're protesting a bit too hard...could you have something to do with this murder...?"

"What?! No! And I'd never do anything that'd harm Matthew"

There had to be a way to narrow the suspects list to one single person. Azalea left aside the trophy pieces, thinking. They had to get a name...someone who had carried the bike chains. Someone who had seen the scene at the Diner – if they were the accomplice instead of the killer. Someone who had knowingly taken actions that led to Aleksey's death and hid the body. Someone...

... **someone who knew something they shouldn't know.**

Azalea reviewed the evidence, the investigation, the trial. The voices of the Hostages were drowned out by her concentration. She visualized everything, remembered what everyone had said. It took a few minutes, but the epiphany came to her like a kick to the teeth. She gasped, astonished, and pressed her hands against her face.

She had gotten much farther than she thought she would: not only she had one name to say right now...she had two. Two different people who knew something they shouldn't have known. _Did I just...solve the case?_ The killer and the accomplice? A shiver ran down her spine, those two names repeating in her head.

They were fearsome opponents. The two of them had managed to leave no clues that could point at them directly – as far as she knew right now. The risk of voting for someone innocent was rather high, especially if she couldn't convince anyone that those two had anything to do with the murder. And while she didn't know which one was the killer and which one was the accomplice, at least now she had a way to start showing everybody what she had just found out.

"I think we can do it in one try. I'm not 100% sure, but it's a start" Azalea said, interrupting everyone. For a moment nobody was sure of what to say, until Kouma decided to take one for the team and ask.

"What do you mean? You know who could be the killer?"

"Maybe. They may be the killer, or maybe they're the accomplice" _Please...I hope I'm right_! "We'll have to check their clothes. If they have grease and there's no good excuse for that we'll have a name to deal with"

"Who is it? Who're you accusing?" Thioro demanded to know. It was the moment of truth. Whatever she said now would lead either to everyone not believing a single word of what she says, or to the trial focusing only on them and nobody else. While Azalea was decently sure she was correct, there was always a chance she was mistaken – in which case they were as good as doomed.

The best choice was to start with the one Azalea was more confident about, the one that had outright revealed the information they shouldn't have known of. _Here goes nothing!_ "I say this person intentionally took part of the plan to murder Aleksey!"

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Kikozou Kamiya**

* * *

Azalea turned to Kamiya. "Kamiya, you're involved in this case, aren't you?" Kamiya's gas mask hid his face, so Azalea wasn't sure if what she said had gotten his attention in any way. A bit unsure, she continued "I'm not sure yet if you're the killer or the accomplice, but I'm pretty sure you were part of this all"

"..."pretty sure"?" Kamiya sounded dismissive "So you don't have proof?"

"I didn't say I didn't have proof, but—"

"That wasn't really the best way to word it, Azalea" Kouma said.

"Look, we're talking about this to get the evidence. Let's do what we can now" Azalea pointed at Kamiya "We're going to check your clothes!"

Kamiya crossed his arms, defiant. "I'm not taking off my clothes and you can't make me do it"

"You don't have to take off everything. All we need is to take piece by piece if we don't find anything on the outside" Dalia intervened, some of the other Hostages nodding in support.

"You're just trying to take off all my clothes one by one"

"Don't worry, Kamiya, I don't think anyone here thinks you carried chains in your...um..." Chrysanthe got red "...in your underwear"

"That doesn't make me feel any better!"

Elaine started approaching. "I say it's worth a try. You have any objections to taking off your lab coat? That coat would give you cover to carry all those chains"

Kamiya moved his gas mask a bit forward, enough for him to move his hand into the mask and wipe off sweat. "I guess it's fine, but—"

"Y-You can't f-force him to do that" Khotso tried to say, but nobody listened to him. Noting that if he didn't comply everyone else would take the lab coat off by themselves, Kamiya sighed and slipped out of the lab coat, passing it to Elaine.

"Knock yourself out"

Elaine spread the lab coat in her hands, starting to search it for any clues. She didn't have to look for long, the clues she was looking for were glaringly notorious in the inside of the coat: large black streaks and stains married the fabric. The pockets of the lab coat were also very dirty, the same substance caking the fabric.

There was no doubt: it was grease.

"The guilty parties are sooner or later revealed" Elaine murmured, showing everyone the inside of the lab coat. The conclusion everyone got to was immediate.

"Kamiya? You're the killer?" Dalia asked in disbelief.

"So that's why he was denying the whole accomplice thing – he was one of them" Kouma said. The murmurs intensified so much Kamiya had no more option than listening to them.

"Okay, that's enough. I'm not the killer"

"Then you're the accomplice?" Elaine asked.

"No. I'm not an accomplice either. I'm innocent of all charges" Kamiya snatched his lab coat back "That's just a dirty coat, it could be anything!"

Joanna started approaching slowly. "I'm pretty sure that's grease"

"Unless you prove the exact chemical composition of those stains to show it's grease, I can deny it. Besides, there's no other proof I was involved in this"

Matthew pointed at him. "Wait...I bet it was you who knocked me out! I was knocked out with some drug, of course you had something to do with it!"

"I heard from Thioro there was an injection wound on Aleksey's wrist. That must have been him too"

Kamiya mumbled something before raising his voice, "I had nothing to do with neither of those things!" he turned to Azalea "This is your fault...why do you suspect me?"

"It's because you revealed something you shouldn't have known" Azalea explained. Kamiya, not understanding, grabbed his podium, confused.

"What? What did I say wrong?"

"You said it..."

* * *

 _Before the murder_

 _During the investigation_

 _During the trial_

* * *

 ** _During the investigation_**

* * *

"It was during the investigation. You and I teamed up together to check the Diner and later we checked the part of the Library where Aleksey died, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. I was there, you know. What's your point?"

"You hinted you knew more than you should. I'm talking about this evidence:"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony (being knocked out)

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Liquid Nitrogen**

* * *

"We were at the Diner. I remember you had commented something; your exact words were "Oh. I didn't know...I haven't ever been in this diner's kitchen before" Then we entered the kitchen of the Diner, and we started examining the cabinets. I was going to open the cabinet where the liquid nitrogen was stored...and that's when you made a blunder" Azalea looked at him coldly, the pharmacist having some difficulty to endure her glare "I had barely opened the door of the cabinet when you got me away with it, and you said...

 _'Be careful with that cabinet. There's liquid nitrogen inside'_

Azalea left the weight of her words make everyone realize how odd that was, and then finished: "Tell me, Kamiya: how did you know there was liquid nitrogen there, if you had never been in the kitchen of the Diner before?"

Kamiya's face was hidden, but something in his demeanor changed. His shoulders slumped, but he didn't acknowledge defeat. Instead he tried to argue, although his words didn't sound as forceful or energetic as before. "I just remembered, I once entered that kitchen and examined everything, that's how I knew there was liquid nitrogen there"

"But you said you didn't even know that kitchen existed!"

Matthew's lens moved back and forth. "There's no reason for him to lie about not knowing the kitchen existed unless he wanted to make himself look innocent. I can't think of any other reason"

"You're misunderstanding. I didn't kill Aleksey" Kamiya said.

"Then you're the accomplice?" Joanna inquired.

"I didn't say that! Look, I..." Kamiya rubbed the surface of the lenses of his gas mask before throwing his hands in the air "Fine! Yeah, I admit it, I'm the killer. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Kinda...but you're not the killer, are you?" Runihura narrowed his eyes, not believing for a second that confession.

"Why not? You all want to paint me as the killer so go ahead, do that!"

"The killer wouldn't confess right now" Kouma refuted weakly.

Lucien played with the buttons of his cuffs. "Despite everything we have discussed our evidence linking Kamiya to everything is tenuous. Those grease stains wouldn't have been enough to confirm it without any reasonable doubt – his confession is very convenient"

"So he's now covering for someone else..." Azalea assembled the trophy quicker, she was almost done.

"Yes, that must be it. Who is Kamiya close to?" Matthew inquired. The consensus was that Azalea, Thioro and Dalia were the most likely candidates, and two of them were proven innocent already, having been with each other during the murder. "So Thioro is the killer?"

"Unlikely. He's one of the first that brought up the accomplice thing" Lucien pointed.

"I suppose it's possible he'd make himself less suspicious doing that, but..." Elaine shook his head "I don't know, I can't see him being the killer" _They're not wrong, Thioro is not the killer_. The problem was that pretty much nothing in the evidence pile pointed at the real killer, nothing could be directly linked. Either they tried to find a way to link the proof to the killer through some roundabout way, or they needed new evidence.

Azalea was still thinking about that when she finished assembling the trophy. "...wait...I think..." she mumbled, her mind working at full speed. Yeah, it could work! Azalea was starting to see how she'd do it. Many mysteries about the murder were answered at once, and although directly connecting the killer to the evidence was a difficult task, it wasn't as impossible as it seemed before! Smirking to herself, Azalea turned the trophy in her hands.

The trophy was shaped like a rocket – and it was hollow. The inside of the rocket had a space big enough for Azalea to insert her hand in and still have a lot of space to move it. Not only that, the inside of the trophy was cracked and brittle, like the wood of the bookshelves at the Library. Something had pushed the trophy from the inside with such force it had broken it into all the pieces they had found, and given the evidence and the stuff she had seen during that day, there was one thing she could think that'd possibly do that. The soda, the trophy, the liquid nitrogen, it all made sense to her.

"Guys, look" she said, putting the trophy on top of the podium for everyone to see "I'm done"

"Is that a rocket? Interesting! So it proves who the killer is?" Vittoria asked.

"Not really. The trophy has nothing that could do that"

"So it was a waste of time to fix it!" Kouma seemed exasperated, and even more when Azalea smirked proudly.

"No, this trophy clears up many things. Parting from this we'll manage to solve everything this case has for us!" _You'll see, Khotso. We're going to prove you're the killer. This rocket is the first clue that'll lead to your guilty verdict!_


	16. Chapter 2: Direct Shot to the Heart VII

The fixed trophy shone underneath the fluorescent lights, everyone looking at it with attention. "So that is what was so broken..." Vittoria said "What can we do with it?"

"The culprit may have broken it to hide their identity. Are there any names on it?" Lucien asked.

"No. The base doesn't give any hints either, but that doesn't matter. What we're seeing here...is the weapon of the crime" Azalea raised the trophy in the air.

"The killer chilled it with liquid nitrogen and then hit Aleksey on the head, all while wearing the gloves..." Elaine read through a few pages of her notes, frowning "No, there must be something wrong here. That doesn't explain the soda"

"And if it doesn't give any hints about the killer then why did they break it?" Chrysanthe wondered. Dalia, possibly having the answer, got their attention.

"What if the trophy broke when the killer hit Aleksey as strong as they could? That trophy could be very fragile!"

"That still doesn't explain the soda" Thioro pointed and turned to Azalea "Do you have any ideas?"

The motivator nodded, putting the trophy aside. "I do. There are a few problems with this crime weapon, but that is because it's incomplete. What we have here is just one of three parts!"

"Three...parts?" Lucien seemed to be at a loss, a change from his usually confident self "I don't understand, what are the other parts?"

"Let's put it like this: the trophy is one part, but it also needs a way to turn it into an object robust enough to crack Aleksey's skull. There aren't many materials that can do that, but we have one here with us. This is the second part of the crime weapon!"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Stone Claw**

* * *

"The second part of the crime weapon was the stone claw from the statue. It's thick and hard enough to break through the bone and kill Aleksey. If you put it on the top of the rocket, over here...it'd turn into a formidable blunt weapon as long as you hit with the top part of the trophy!"

"That makes sense. It fits with what you know" Kamiya conceded, having been silent during most of the argument, now deciding to intervene "But does it really matter? So what if Aleksey was killed with the trophy or with the claw or whatever?"

"Shut up!" Kouma yelled at him, and then returned to Azalea's argument "That's two, but what's the third? Is it what broke the trophy – I still have no idea about that"

"Something like that. The third and last part of the crime weapon is what unites everything we found where Aleksey died, and it's the first step towards finding out who the killer is. This is the last part of the crime weapon!"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Missing Bottles of Soda**

* * *

"It's the soda! All the bottles of soda that were at the Diner and now are gone...all those are the last part of the crime weapon!"

Somehow, the argument that a few bottles of soda were part of what killed Aleksey didn't work as well as Azalea thought it would. For a moment everyone looked at each other, unsure if they should take such statement seriously, or if Azalea had made a mistake in judgment. "Uh...really now? You sure about that?" Dalia tried to look like she believed Azalea, but the doubt was clear in her eyes.

"I'm completely sure! It explains everything!"

"...uh...okay, I think I understand" Thioro flipped his tie around, stringing together a few thoughts "The killer or Kamiya emptied the bottles and filled them with liquid nitrogen. Am I right?"

"No. Look at this trophy carefully" Azalea grabbed it and turned it around so everyone saw the hollow inside of the trophy "See this big empty space? I think the killer or Kamiya put one of the bottles of soda in here"

"But there were four bottles more. You can't fit five bottles in there" Kamiya snidely pointed.

"Of course you can't! The other four bottles were placed here..." Azalea started pointing at places on the outside of the trophy "And here, and here...I think. It doesn't matter where exactly it was, what matters is that the four bottles were strapped on the outside"

"Azalea...um...I don't get it. What's the point with the b-bottles?" Khotso asked, much to Azalea's annoyance. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she glared at Khotso before announcing:

"The bottles were places in those positions because it was vital. It's going to sound wild, but hear this: The murder weapon, the object that killed Aleksey...

...it was **a bottle rocket**!" _Well, many at once, but that's beside the point._

Joanna was the first to react. Some of the Hostages had no idea what a bottle rocket was, those who did know were surprised. "Are you insane? Did you lose your freaking mind?!"

"It's what I think happened. That's how all that soda was spilled"

"But what about the liquid nitrogen? You can't explain that with a bottle rocket!"

"Oh, but you can! I remember something my mom told me once" Azalea thought back to what her mother used to say, a chemistry lesson she faintly remembered "Stuff like liquid nitrogen and other cold substances like that, um...they reject warmer liquids or something? It was about pressure and other stuff like that. I think the killer strapped half-empty bottles of soda to the trophy and then added liquid nitrogen to them!"

"Wait, I think I have heard something like that before!" Spots intervened from the door of the courtroom "Azalea isn't wrong; you can make bottle rockets with liquid nitrogen! The result makes the bottles much speedier than if done with anything else!"

Elaine raised her eyebrows "Really? That can be done?"

"Yes! But it's volatile. If you're not careful, the bottle and its mixture can _explode!_ "

That word got Chrysanthe's attention more than anything else. "An explosion! The trophy broke because the bottles exploded!"

"That's exactly what I think happened!" Azalea beamed with pride "I bet that when the trophy impacted against Aleksey's head it exploded, and that's why everything in that area was so damaged, liquid nitrogen was spread around"

"That makes some sense. In that case, we need to look for someone who knows how to make rocket bottles" Matthew said. That got Dalia's attention, who hurried to inform them:

"Wait, there aren't many of us who knows how to do it! Azalea and I were with them. Joanna, Thioro and Kamiya know how to make bottle rockets"

"Kamiya again...I bet he gave the killer the idea of using bottle rockets!"

"Or the k-killer may be one of th-the other two" Khotso proposed, not noticing Azalea's death glare "Thioro's name appeared again...maybe he's the killer after all"

The detective clicked his tongue, avoiding lashing out at Khotso. "I told you, I'm not the culprit"

"Then do you think it could be Joanna?" Vittoria played with her thumbs "Somehow I can not imagine Joanna killing anyone"

"No, it must be either Thioro or Joanna. There's no other option here if those two are the ones that know how to make bottle rockets" Matthew insisted, much to Azalea's alarm. _Wait, if they focus on that too much soon those two will be the suspects!_

"Can't it have been someone else?" Azalea tried to hint.

"Someone else? Like who?"

Directly accusing Khotso could be a bad idea if she couldn't prove it immediately. Playing her cards before the right moment was a bad idea, she had to direct them slowly to the conclusion she had gotten to. "You'll see. I have a suspect and it's neither of them"

"Who is it?"

"I can't tell you right now, first I should dispel this wrong thought you have—"

 **STOP YOUR BLUFFING**

Matthew slowly extended the lens over his left eye, staring straight at Azalea. "If you know who the culprit is, you gain nothing by keeping it hidden. Say who it is"

"I can't. I just can't say the name right now. First I must prove it"

"First say the name and then prove it!" he insisted. Azalea still refused, so he sighed, putting away his lens "Fine. Since you refuse to say it I'll suppose you're bluffing. Unless you can prove that someone else other than Joanna or Thioro could have done this I'll have to call you a liar!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Liquid Nitrogen / Matthew's Testimony / Injection Wound / Smudged Grease Fingerprints / Suspicious Puddles_

* * *

MATTHEW: Rocket bottles aren't common knowledge.

MATTHEW: We're going to have to rely on what we already know

MATTHEW: And we know those two can make rocket bottles

MATTHEW: We can't simply guess and hope others know too.

MATTHEW: I'm going to trust Dalia on this

MATTHEW: Why can't you accept something you know already?

AZALEA: I have good reasons to believe they're not the culprit.

AZALEA: It's all in the evidence.

MATTHEW: Cut the crap and say it already!

MATTHEW: Look, we even have a good idea of what's going on!

MATTHEW: I bet everything that was used in the bottle that killed Aleksey...

MATTHEW: ...is **the same** than the bottle they showed to you before!

MATTHEW: That should show you it's possible they did it.

MATTHEW: Unless you have **concrete evidence** clearing their names...

MATTHEW: ...there **can't be another suspect**!

* * *

Azalea drummed her fingers against the top of her podium. Once again, ignorance about facts was letting her counter the argument with ease. She was almost hoping Matthew had something else in mind, because it was almost too easy. "No. It's far from the same. I can tell you that a very important part of the bottle rocket that killed Aleksey wasn't present in the rocket bottle Thioro and Joanna made"

"What's it?" Matthew narrowed his eye.

"The liquid nitrogen. The rocket bottle Thioro and Joanna made was made of _pumped air and_ _water_ "

The news didn't seem to faze Matthew that much, but he did look a bit more cautious than before. "So what? The killer simply didn't use liquid nitrogen that time to avoid linking it to what they'd do later"

"Somehow that doesn't sound right to me, and I'm not saying it because he's still accusing me" Thioro said, almost disinterested. Azalea thought quickly, prepared to counter what Matthew said.

"Not possible. It was said earlier in this trial that the murder plan started at the Diner, remember?"

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Fabergé Egg**

* * *

"That jeweled egg is how the murder plan started, when it broke, and that happened some time after the experiment with the rocket bottle Joanna made. How do you propose they're covering up something that hadn't even started to be planned by that point?"

"I...fine! I guess there's a chance you're right" he conceded. Others weren't completely convinced, though.

"Did we confirm that egg had anything to do with the murder – we may be wrong about that part" Kouma said.

"She's right. We may be wrong and Matthew may be right" Elaine quietly accepted, although she didn't seem to be in a hurry to aid Matthew "But let's not get stuck in that. I'm inclined to believe Azalea"

"I believe in her arguments too. I would like to hear what she has to say" Vittoria said with a small smile. _Thanks!_

"Alright. If you want to hear it, then all I ask is that you don't jump to attack him. Let's take this calmly, okay?" Everyone seemed to agree with Azalea's words - -although Kamiya was staring blankly at a random point – so the motivator took a breath to talk "I think the killer is—"

"Stop that!" Kamiya suddenly shouted, raising his head so quickly his mask moved upwards a bit. He put it back into its place, pressing it so hard against his face everyone could see his eyes clearly through the tinted glass of his mask "That's enough. I'm the culprit. You don't need to announce my accomplice's name. Look, vote for me and all. I did it"

"Kamiya, none of us believe that"

"Keep your mouth shut! I'm talking" the pharmacist condescendingly put a dinger in front of the grate of his gas mask "The bottle rockets that killed Aleksey was all my idea. I knew from long ago how to make them. I knew that mixing liquid nitrogen and water or soda into a bottle would create a very fast projectile. It was my idea to put the body on top of the shelf. _Everything_ was my idea. I have made dozens of rocket bottles like that one before!"

"Kamiya, what are you...?" Khotso had gone a bit pale, the bags under his eyes looking darker than usual.

"I'm accepting my crime, that's what I'm doing. I had enough of this trial. You don't need to know the name of my accomplice"

"But we do need to know. There's no reason to not to know" Lucien said.

"You'll judge them. Once the trial is over you'll shun them. My accomplice is a good person; I can't let you hurt them"

"So it really is someone Kamiya is close to...huh, interesting" Elaine murmured to herself. That's when Azalea intervened, talking dryly.

"Kamiya...I don't believe you. You're not the killer"

"And why the hell do you think that?" he said with even tone.

"You're not the person who planned stuff like the crime weapon. You're not the one who made the rocket bottle...and I can prove it. Want me to do it?"

Kamiya stared at her for a moment, looking at her with disdain. "Go ahead. Do it. I _dare_ you" _Kamiya has gone into antagonist mode. I'll prove his lie right now!_

* * *

 **Panic Talk Battle**

* * *

KAMIYA: It was all my idea!

KAMIYA: As the killer I did that part!

KAMIYA: Forget about my accomplice

KAMIYA: Stop it already!

KAMIYA: You have a confession.

KAMIYA: What else do you want?

KAMIYA: The plan was all mine

KAMIYA: I did it all!

KAMIYA: You have to understand

KAMIYA: You can't keep going on!

* * *

 **The rocket bottle plan was all my idea!**

* * *

 _"This is the first time I do something like this"_

* * *

"Many things you have said in this trial contradict something you said before – and you did it once again. Are you completely sure the rocket bottle part was your idea?"

"Of course it was! I have done them before"

"How odd...I remember you had said the exact opposite earlier today"

Thioro closed his eyes, a bit confused. "I don't think he has said that here in the trial..."

"That's because it wasn't during the trial. It was before that, back when Joanna made her experiment!"

"Oh. Wait, that's true...Kamiya had said he had never done something like a rocket bottle before!"

"Exactly! And I'm sure he wasn't lying back then"

"Because there was no reason for him to lie at that point unless he was already planning to kill someone with a rocket bottle" Thioro paused for a second "And if he was already planning that, then he'd be the killer, not the accomplice"

"Exactly! I did do it!" Kamiya tried to argue, but nobody paid attention to him.

"Lady Azalea, I know I said I would trust your judgment, but I inquire once again: are you completely sure the killer is not that man with the gas mask?" Vittoria asked. Azalea nodded, determined. She was completely sure her reasoning was correct, even though her argument wasn't complete yet. "I see. Then let is continue. Are you prepared to say who is the killer?"

"I think I may be" Azalea said slowly. This was the moment of truth. "It's something that still needs to be proven, but if you want to know who did it..."

"Was it Joanna?" Thioro wondered. The violinist pointed the bow of her violin at him, shaking it like a nagging finger.

"That's not funny, you useless detective"

"No, it's not Joanna, I'm sure it isn't her. The real killer is..."

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Khotso Thobi**

* * *

"...Khotso Thobi. You're the killer. You're the one who made the rocket bottles, you're the one who was with Aleksey before his murder. It was all _you_ "

Khotso didn't reply. Instead he just looked at his hands on the podium with forlorn expression, without making any effort to counter that. Nobody among the Hostages had seen the accusation coming, though. Nobody shouted or acted surprised, but they all turned their heads at Khotso, expecting the astronomer to deny the accusation. "...Khotso?" Runihura softly tried to get a reaction out of him, but he still said nothing, just staring at his hands.

"Um...are you sure about that, Azalea?" Thioro inquired. Azalea nodded.

"Completely sure. And before any of you ask...I have almost no evidence to prove it. That's what we're going to do now, we're going to look for the evidence we need"

Joanna adjusted her glasses. "And how do you intend to do that?"

"Let's talk about a few things. For example...do we know why Aleksey was at the Library in the first place?"

"He was there because..." Lucien trailed off, having realized they had no idea why Aleksey had been at the Library "He may have liked to read. People can have hobbies you don't expect"

"Azalea's right, let's talk about that. We shouldn't leave anything unanswered. Come on, let's get out heads together and think" Runihura smiled briefly at Azalea. _This is what we need to do. Together we'll find the answers we need!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Fabergé Egg / Missing Bottles of Soda / Three Glasses / Liquid Nitrogen / Grease on the Body_

* * *

CHRYSANTHE: Aleksey being in the Library...

CHRYSANTHE: It may have been just a **coincidence**

MATTHEW: **Kamiya took him** to the Library

MATTHEW: And then **Khotso murdered him**.

KAMIYA: I did not do such thing.

KAMIYA: Aleksey was **already there** when I murdered him.

VITTORIA: You are still insisting about that?

RUNIHURA: But he may be telling the truth this time.

RUNIHURA: Too bad we have **no proof** Aleksey may have been there already.

MATTHEW: If we need proof then where could we find it?

LUCIEN: At **the Diner** , most likely.

LUCIEN: If not there, then at **the Library**.

AZALEA: We need proof we don't have already.

AZALEA: Any ideas, anyone?

CHRYSANTHE: We could **take a look** at that place.

MATTHEW: But we can't leave the courtroom. We lost our chance.

* * *

Nothing they had found hinted the reason why Aleksey had gone to the Library. It only made sense that it was something they missed, in which case... "Thioro, there was nothing in Aleksey's pockets, right?"

"There was nothing, I checked"

"Then there's a place we should have checked more carefully: the scene of the crime. I don't mean the top of the bookshelf, I mean the place covered in soda and trophy parts"

"We can't return there right now, Monobear won't let us leave the trial room" Elaine said, eliciting Monobear to intervene and noisily confirm what she had just said.

"That's right! You should have done a better job investigating. Too bad for all of you!"

Runihura pointed with his head at the doors of the courthouse. "But we have these two here. We could use our one-time favor for today and ask them to check"

"What exactly do we tell them to look for?" Vittoria asked.

"Everything that's where Aleksey died. They can do that thing where we can see what they see, we'll tell them what to focus on. Let's do that!"

"Have you been listening?" Joanna nixed any further discussion and talked directly to the admins. Stripes nodded, crossing his arms.

"We can do that – if you're sure this is how you want to spend the one chance you have. Are you completely sure about this?"

"We're sure. Get going"

The screen descended from the ceiling, stopping above the doors, just like it happened during the first trial. Spots and Stripes bowed before leaving the courtroom without saying another word. A minute later, the screen turned on, showing the stone arch that marked the entrance to the bookshelves section of the Library. "Hello? You hear me? Copy?" Spots' voice sounded through the speakers "Tell us where to go, please!"

Azalea put her elbows on her podium, resting her chin on her hand. "To the right you'll find a mess, with soda and other stuff. Go check that area"

"Anything we should pay attention to?"

"Uh...give us a minute" Azalea frowned "Any ideas, guys?"

Dalia perked up. "If Aleksey went to the Library by himself then he must have been looking for a book because what else does someone do in a Library?"

"Then he'd be looking at books where he was killed – right?" Kouma suggested. Her suggestion was well-received, it made sense that Kamiya or Khotso surprised Aleksey right when he was in middle of checking some book.

"It seems we all are thinking the same. Excuse me, admins, please take a look at the bookshelves in that area" Vittoria requested "For example, what topic is this section about? That could be important to know"

"Got it. I'll direct the camera over here" Stripes said right when the camera focused on the titles of the books affected by the liquid nitrogen. All the Hostages paid attention to the books, reading everything in there.

"Dickinson's Nightwatch...Hubble's Universe...Mapping the Cosmos...Astronomy Today?" Dalia murmured, almost not believing what she was seeing "You guys see the same I'm seeing, right?"

Elaine nodded. "It's the astronomy section" she said. Khotso sank a bit more behind his podium, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"So Aleksey came to do something in this part of the Library, the astronomy section. Let is try to find what he was looking for" Vittoria rubbed her chin, pensive "Pan through the shelf slowly, guys"

The tight line of damaged books was slowly shown in its entirety, everyone able to see every detail of the spines of the books. It took a couple minutes to see the anomaly among them – besides the damage caused by the liquid nitrogen. "Hey, over there" Azalea pointed at one of the books "Look at that one, it's upside-down"

"But the other books aren't like that. What could it mean?" Elaine wondered.

Thioro closed his eyes. "I think Aleksey may have taken that book. Let's take a look. Take that book out and look inside. What's it?"

A blue paw grabbed the book, taking it out of the shelf and browsing the pages from the beginning. "It's an encyclopedia about celestial bodies. I don't think Aleksey marked any specific page"

"Okay, we're doing some good progress here. This section does kinda point at Khotso, but it's not perfect" Lucien said "We need more proof"

"Why did Aleksey take out that book? What was he looking for? I do not get it yet" Vittoria admitted, intrigued. _I can think of something_... Something that could point what Aleksey was doing with that book. It was kind of a long shot, but it was worth a try.

"I think we finally can make sense of this clue. Here, look at this!" Azalea rummaged in the pockets of her cardigan, taking out the clue she was thinking of.

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

 **Piece of Paper**

* * *

Azalea showed the piece of paper from the Library, extending it between her fingers so everyone read what was written on it. "I think Aleksey was investigating this: QSO-160913+653228"

"What's that? A code?" Runihura looked into the encyclopedia Spots was still browsing through, expecting to see the answer soon.

"Maybe it's a code. I don't know what it is yet"

"If Aleksey was looking for that in this encyclopedia about celestial bodies there's only one thing it can be" Lucien raised a finger "Coordinates"

"Coordinates for what?" Thioro asked.

"I don't know, what do you think I am, an astronomer? You'll have to ask Khotso about this"

Runihura, being close to Khotso's podium, glared at him. "You got nothing to say yet?" the astronomer didn't reply, still not looking at anyone "You have been silent all this time, you haven't even tried to defend yourself! Come on, there must be something you want to say!"

"Kamiya has been awfully silent all this time too" Thioro pointed out. The pharmacist, having been mentioned, shrugged.

"I have nothing else to say" he gestured at the screen "What do you expect me to say?"

Chrysanthe's mouth formed a thin line. "I think they gave up. Hey, guys, I have a question..." once everyone directed their attention at them, the gardener spoke "I know this is related to Khotso, but it's still pretty vague. It's...um...'circumstantial evidence'. What I'm trying to say is that I'm not sure this is really something we should base our votes on"

There was silence for a moment until Azalea nodded. "Thanks, Chrys. She's not wrong, this is circumstantial"

"Is that all we have?" Runihura was looking at the recording in his videocamera, hoping to find something else that could be of use. "We need something else...it'd be great if it's physical, tangible evidence"

"Nobody here is going to vote for anyone else other than Khotso. Let's not waste any more time" Lucien bluntly said.

"W-Wait! Is that r-really all you're going to say? You don't even have c-conclusive proof" Khotso finally tried to defend himself, although he still didn't dare to look at anyone to the eyes "If he had died in a section about plants, then you'd th-think Chrysanthe is the killer?"

"Well, yeah! It's the same logic we're using right now" Matthew answered, although he didn't look entirely sure he was saying something intelligent. Elaine silenced him with a look.

"Khotso's not wrong, we still don't have conclusive evidence. I don't think we're going to find anything else in the crime scene – thanks for the help, admins" the screen turned off "Let's work with what we have and look for the proof that'd link Khotso and erase any remaining doubts" _Okay, this is it, the final moment. If we get conclusive proof, it's over. We can do it!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Warped Wood / Grease Stains on a Beam / Liquid Nitrogen / Matthew's Testimony / Stone Claw_

* * *

DALIA: It'd be easy if we had something like...

DALIA: **...fingerprints...**

DALIA: ...or **footprints.**

JOANNA: Or if he left **blood** somewhere.

JOANNA: We'd find out if he has any **wounds** on him.

KOUMA: What about **testimony?**

KOUMA: Someone may have seen something – I dunno.

DALIA: Or his **accomplice** knows something.

MATTHEW: If we don't have other options...

MATTHEW: We'll have to ask **the NPCs**...

MATTHEW: ...or even **Monobear**

KHOTSO: Th-They'd never answer anything to you!

KHOTSO: Everyone, you have to realize now...

KHOTSO: ...I left no **conclusive evidence** anywhere!

* * *

'No conclusive evidence', he said. Azalea felt an almost perverse feeling of satisfaction when she was able to turn those three words against him. "Really? Are you sure you didn't leave any conclusive proof at all?" Khotso didn't answer, already dreading what Azalea was going to say "You did leave something: a footprint"

"But the only footprint we have heard about i-is the one on the bookshelf" he finally said.

"Exactly. That's what I'm talking about. I can't say I'm 100% confident about this, but I'm at least 70% sure we can link it to you"

Thioro interjected, trying not to ruin Azalea's enthusiasm. "I don't mean to rain over your parade, but that footprint isn't good enough to know from what shoe it came from"

"That's not a problem. There's something about the footprint we may be able to work with. I'm talking about..."

* * *

 _...what it's made of._

 _The size_

 _The shape_

 _The imprint_

* * *

 ** _...what it's made of._**

* * *

"...about what that footprint is made of. See? It's made of some sort of gray powder. If Khotso's shoes have that same powder, then it's very likely he's the killer!"

"But we don't even know what that powder is. Others here may have gray powder on our shoes too" Elaine said.

"Wait, I think I see where this is going. Lady Azalea is now going to announce she knows what the powder is, and that will seal the killer is fate. Am I wrong?"

Azalea couldn't avoid holding back a laugh. "Oh, I don't really know, but I think I know what it could be"

"That's good enough. Then what's that powder, Azalea?" Elaine encouraged her, so Azalea gathered her courage and presented the last piece of evidence of the trial.

* * *

Monobear File #2

Grease on the Body

Injection Wound

Grease Stains on a Beam

Smudged Grease Fingerprints

Footprint on the Shelf

Stone Claw

Fabergé Egg

Three Glasses

Trophy Base

Missing Bottles of Soda

Liquid Nitrogen

Missing Bicycle Chains

Matthew's Testimony

Piece of Paper

Warped Wood

Suspicious Puddles

Pieces of Metal

Leather Gloves

* * *

 **Stone Claw**

* * *

Azalea looked at Khotso. "I have wondered for a while how the killer managed to get that claw. I don't think it just fell down from the statue, it's more likely the killer did something to get it off. The arm of the statue is rather high; I think the killer had to climb the statue to get to the claws"

"You think the killer broke that claw with their own hands?" Lucien looked skeptical.

"No, I don't think the killer or anyone here has enough strength to do that, but there's an easier way it could be done. Think about it: if you had to break a claw off from that statue and your hands aren't good enough, how'd you do it?"

"With a tool, like a hammer" Thioro answered.

"I don't think Khotso or anyone had time to look for tools. You'll have to use your own body"

Thioro thought for a moment. "With your...wait, if what we found is a footprint and it was made of stone dust from that statue..."

"Exactly. I think the person who broke the statue's claw did it with their _foot_ " Azalea paid attention at Khotso's reaction, the astronomer looked away "If you get on the statue's hand and start pushing and kicking with your foot, sooner or later it may break. What if it really is dust from that statue? I don't think anyone had time to change their clothes. Khotso may still have some on his shoe"

"And if it's dust from the statue, it's unlikely the rest of us will have any on our soles" Joanna nodded slowly "Yes, that can work"

"What do you say, Khotso? Will you let us check your shoes?"

Khotso looked down. "I...I can't...I don't..." his doubts were self-incriminatory. A person without powder on their shoes would have no reason to hesitate.

"I think it has been enough. Shall we go into the voting phase now? Or before that, should we review how we got to this point?"

"I can do that. Let me gather my thoughts..." Azalea scratched her thumbnail, thinking back to everything she knew. Piecing everything together in one concise tale shouldn't be too difficult. May as well do that and end the trial.

* * *

 **Climax Inference**

* * *

 _First you must understand something: there were two people involved in this crime, a culprit and an accomplice._

 _This crime started at the Diner, where the culprit met with Aleksey. Aleksey had brought his Fabergé Egg, the most valuable object he had. The two of them sat at one of the tables, maybe talking or simply spending time together. At some point, the egg Aleksey brought fell to the floor, breaking into many pieces._

 _That must have enraged Aleksey. The confrontation ended with Aleksey somehow acquiring a piece of paper from the culprit, a piece with coordinates to some sort of celestial body. Deciding to find out what it was, Aleksey went to the Library to research it._

 _Unfortunately, there had been a witness at the Diner. The accomplice and the culprit started planning Aleksey's murder, grabbing different objects they'd need. Liquid nitrogen and soda from the kitchen of the Diner, a trophy from the cabinet...one of them also obtained bike chains from the Stadium, and stole Matthew's gloves after drugging him. A claw from the Monobear statues was acquired as well. Once everything they needed was gathered, the two went to the Library, where Aleksey was still researching._

 _The culprit and their accomplice started mixing up the liquid nitrogen and the soda, tying the bottles and the stone claw to the trophy, forming a blunt weapon. The dangerous object was ready and aimed at Aleksey, who didn't know what was going on. Once the moment was right, the killer moved the rocket bottle to activate it, letting it fly in the air and hit the back of Aleksey's head, killing him._

 _The moment the weapon hit Aleksey, it proved to be too unstable, the liquid nitrogen making the weapon explode. Liquid nitrogen was spread around, damaging the bookshelves and causing frostbite to Aleksey. There was no time to fix anything, though, the culprit and their accomplice immediately started to cover up their crime._

 _They moved Aleksey to a few shelves away, where they formed a rope and harness with the bike chains, and started to lift Aleksey's body. The culprit, knowing they needed someone on top of the shelf to receive the body, climbed the bookshelf, unwittingly leaving their handprints and footprints on it. Once the body was placed there, all they had to do was leave the Library, taking the bike chains and the gloves with them. Later someone would bury the gloves in the Garden, in an attempt to get rid of the evidence._

 _Their number of mistakes was very low, but the clues they left were enough to point at them... **Khotso Thobi** and **Kikozou Kamiya.**_

* * *

For a moment there was nothing more than silence. After a couple tense minutes, where everyone stared at each other with apprehension, Kamiya glared at Azalea, and Khotso kept looking away, the astronomer nodded. "...you're right"

"Damn it..." Kamiya muttered.

"Really? Khotso, you're the killer?" Joanna sounded a bit in disbelief. Out of everyone, Khotso was the one that seemed the most harmless, how did things end in him murdering somebody?

"Yes...it was me. Aleksey, he...he ruined my treasure. It's his fault"

"You broke his egg"

"Th-That was an accident! I just touched it and it fell t-to the floor!" Khotso argued "Aleksey got mad, and grabbed wh-what I had brought. W-We struggled and he tore it apart...my most treasured object..." he glanced at Azalea. She still had that piece of paper, didn't she? "You have what's left of it"

"The coordinates?" Azalea looked at what was written in the paper.

"No...those aren't coordinates. That's the name of a quasar. _My_ quasar. The one I discovered. Khotso's voice trembled a bit "Th-That certificate is th-the only link I have to my achievement...and I w-was going to lose it..."

"That was a virtual copy, Khotso"

"I know! But when I saw it all ruined I...I realized that's wh-what was going to happen to the real one...I-I-I couldn't accept that, I had to keep it safe...it's the only worthwhile thing I have ever d-d-done in my life..." he raised his voice slightly "You have to understand! Anyone w-would have done the same!"

"...you idiot" Chrysanthe murmured, shaking her head. Pretty much nobody had any sympathy for Khotso right now. It was a selfish decision, that's what they all thought. Aleksey's life had been taken away unfairly.

"W-Why are you all looking at me like that?!"

"You think a piece of paper is worth killing someone for? Khotso, you're truly an idiot" the gardener's face was getting a bit red "That wasn't worth it, no matter what it meant for you. That wasn't going to be worth all of our lives!"

"A-All of your..."

"If we hadn't caught you we'd all have died! You were going to kill all of us just for a piece of paper!"

Khotso covered his face with his hands. He hadn't internalized yet that thirteen people in total would have needed to die if he was going to stay alive to keep that certificate. "Oh god...oh my god..." he murmured, sounding like he was about to break down "I'm sorry...I'm s-so sorry..."

Nobody was willing to forgive Khotso, that much Monobear understood. That's why, after a moment of doubt, he stood up, getting everyone's attention. "Okay, since nobody is joining the pity party I say it's time to end this trial! Anything else to say, Thobi-kun?" Khotso raised his head from his hands and opened his mouth, but Monobear waved at him dismissively "Of course not! You said everything you had to say. Too bad nobody here wanted to take your side! Not even Kamiya-kun, even though he helped you kill Aleksey!"

"...please...stop..."

"But let's not make this any longer. Let's tally the votes! Will the culprit be selected? Will there be a twist? Let's find out!" The result was ready just seconds later: a unanimous vote for Khotso "Not even Kamiya-kun voted for someone else. How cold of him!"

Khotso looked at Kamiya with betrayal on his face. "Kikozou, you..." Kamiya simply looked calmly at the astronomer while the admins approached, bringing the futuristic handcuffs from the first trial. Without a word, they snapped them around Khotso's wrists, making him wince "Ouch, that hurt...!"

"Oh, but you're going to forget all about those handcuffs once you're being executed. Let's give it everything we got!" Monobear hung onto the level to the side of his throne "Let's see what marvelous execution we have for our Super High School Astronomer! Bring it oooooon!"

"W-Wait! I'm sorryyyy!" he pleaded, but nobody listened to him. The floor underneath him opened, Khotso sliding a short distance until he fell at the place where his execution was going to happen.

* * *

 **Supernova**

 _The place Khotso fell at was the inside of what seemed to be a satellite, there was just enough space for him to sit. Cables, levers, buttons, everything surrounded him, he was sitting on an old leather chair, rather cramped in that place. The Hostages could see Khotso, they were all looking through a camera inside the cabin – or so it seemed. Khotso struggled, trying to find a way to move, but it was too late. A deafening roar from behind the satellite sounded, blasts of fire emanated from the back. Somehow it was going to fly by itself instead of being inside a rocket. Slowly, the satellite rolled forward while Khotso kept struggling, looking more and more panicked with every second that passed. Buttons were pressed and controls were smashed in his fight to liberate himself from the handcuffs, but nothing he did changed anything._

 _The satellite elevated from the ground, accelerating to unexpected speeds. The feed inside the cabin turned blurry from the movement, Khotso's horrified screams still sounding clearly from the speakers. Once the satellite was going at a considerable speed, it suddenly bolted upwards, disappearing into the sky in matter of seconds._

 _The video blurred even more, turning into bright lines due to the speed. Somehow the connection continued despite the satellite being in space – this being a virtual world was the only explanation, but that didn't stop everyone from being amazed – but for a few seconds all everyone saw was a series of long lines, like some kind of bizarre static. Khotso had stopped screaming, too. Later, although everything indicated the satellite was slowing down, the screen kept showing static. There was less than before, but there was too much for anyone to distinguish what was going on. The faint form of Khotso could be seen, though._

 _Suddenly, the screen changed. Somehow, everyone was now watching from outside the satellite, several dozens of meters away, floating in space. In the distance, an unbelievably bright star shone, enveloping most of the screen. For a moment nothing happened, but then the satellite opened, releasing the seat. The seat floated upwards, free from the capsule, although the camera was far away, everyone could see Khotso was there._

 _And that's when the star exploded. There was no sound, but everyone could imagine it as a loud explosion. The star shone brighter for a moment before starting to disintegrate, a strange-looking vortex forming in middle of it. An expansive wave of light and heat emanated from the star, going towards Khotso at astonishing speed. The astronomer would only have endured the cold and lack of air of space for a few seconds before the barrage of heat and light enveloped him._

 _The camera feed ended._

* * *

Azalea covered her mouth with her hands. That was a completely impossible way to die, yet she had seen it happen with her own eyes. _What the hell...what the hell...?!_ she repeated to herself over and over, staring at the black screen.

"Holy shit..." Joanna mumbled, having taken off her glasses and looked away. "Did that seriously happen?"

"This is a virtual world. Anything can happen" Dalia said grimly, getting off her podium with woozy feet "I'm getting outta here"

"Right after you" Kamiya said, sounding way more calm than he had any right to be. That made everyone stop, looking at him with varied degrees of horrified expressions.

"Wait, what's going to happen to him now? Monobear, what about Kamiya?" Matthew asked.

"Hm? What about him?" Monobear tilted his head.

"He helped Khotso kill Aleksey. Are you going to let him go without any punishment?"

"Hey, I just execute culprits, if you want something else you'll have to do it by yourself. You can't expect the bear to do all the justice dispensing around here" Monobear vanished right after that, before anyone could argue about punishing Kamiya. All the Hostages turned to look at Kamiya, who was standing there, crossing his arms and with defiance radiating from his face. _Now that I think about it...why did he help Khotso?_

Joanna seemed to have been thinking the same. She approached Kamiya without any fear, looking at him with suspicion. "Hey...why did you help Khotso?" Kamiya adjusted his mask, silent "If we hadn't caught Khotso we'd all be dead...including you. You know that. You're not stupid, Kamiya, I know you know"

"...he was caught anyways" Kamiya grumbled.

"We could have missed. You saw us, we had no idea who the killer was" Thioro added.

"I knew you'd all catch the killer. I saw you all work to catch Patricio, I knew it'd happen again" Azalea had a nasty sensation watching Kamiya say stuff like that, and that sensation only increased when he continued "I knew you'd catch him...it's true, Joanna, I'm not stupid. That's why I made sure _I_ wouldn't be considered the killer"

"What...? But you were defending him! You said you were!" Dalia exclaimed. Kamiya once again pressed his mask against his face.

"I had to. If Khotso had realized I was betraying him, things would get worse for me. Now that he's gone, I can talk with liberty"

Runihura cringed, as if hit by a cold blast of wind. "How can you be so cold? Why did you help him kill Aleksey if you wanted Khotso to die?"

"I didn't do this to kill Khotso. All I did was encourage him to take action, and I offered my help. All I did was leave all of you to find he was the killer"

"But why?! Say it already!" Lucien approached, trying to grab Kamiya's lab coat, but the pharmacist moved aside, avoiding Lucien's hands.

"...I didn't care. All I needed was someone to kill somebody else, and Khotso was as good as any. I saw the chance, so I took it"

"...a murder happened and that's all I wanted. Our objects are safe."

"You did this just to save our stuff?" a drop of sweat rolled down the side of Lucien's face, it seemed he was getting a tad unsettled by Kamiya's coldness. The pharmacist nodded, looking relaxed.

"Exactly. I'm sure there'll be some people here that'll be grateful about that"

"You're insane" Joanna murmured "Nobody's going to thank you for killing two people! It's your fault that Khotso is dead too!"

Runihura joined Joanna's indignation, approaching Kamiya. "You pushed Khotso to kill, his death is as much your fault as it's Monobear's"

"You're not getting away with this!" Lucien threatened, once again trying to grab Kamiya, and once again missing. Kamiya shrugged, sighing with disappointment.

"I get it. Nobody will admit aloud they're glad someone died and their treasures are saved. That's fine. I'll just leave now" Kamiya turned around and started walking towards the door of the courtroom "Let's all get going, the night is getting cold!" Nobody tried to stop him. Once Kamiya left, the admins returned, opening the doors of the courtroom further.

"What are you waiting for? The train is here already" Stripes growled. Lucien, unhappy about how blasé Kamiya was about his role in Aleksey's murder, approached them, grabbing Stripes by the scruff of his neck and lifting him in the air.

"You. That man is a danger to the rest of us. What're you going to do about it?"

"What do you want us to do?"

"Lock him away, do something!"

Spots' frown seemed to drop even more, despite how impossible that was. "We're sorry, that's not going to happen. And we ask you not to harm or tie him in some way"

"Why? Are you accomplices or something?" Dalia demanded to know, so Spots shook her paws frantically.

"No, that's not it, that's definitely not it! It'd just be...inconvenient"

"Restricting one of the Hostages like that would put him at disadvantage. We want a fair game" Stripes added.

"So you really do want us to kill each other!" Joanna pushed the bow of her violin into Spots' head, making the chevrotain whimper in surprise.

"I didn't say that! But tying him up somewhere would leave him vulnerable to being killed, that's why we can't allow it!"

Dalia, noting that this'd only end in frustration for everyone and not wanting to anger the two that had most control over the virtual world, put her hand on Johanna's shoulder and pulled her back. "Forget that. Come on, let's all go. With some luck we'll be able to throw Kamiya through the window of the train on the way back"

"Not without me punching him first" Thioro said rather calmly, loosening his tie more. This had been a long night, everyone was tired. Azalea looked around the trial room one last time before leaving, sighing. Kamiya...it was hard to believe he had been so callous. She hadn't ever imagined he'd be cold enough to do that. But it was undeniable, he had. It was...disappointing. Azalea felt a strange emptiness in her, like something had broken in her.

How many more disappointments would she experience before it was all over? How many people more she esteemed and liked would turn out to be killers?

Shaking her head to stop thinking about that, Azalea crossed the doors of the courtroom, going towards the train.

* * *

 **There'll be an intermission next.**


	17. Intermission I

Akane rubbed her eyes, feeling sleepy. Another long night was getting to its end, the second trial was done. She felt repulsed by how watching the trials made her feel...nostalgic. Having to argue and look over the evidence to achieve something had been one of the worst moments of her life this last year, but for some reason she missed that. Maybe it was because doing that it felt like she was actually achieving something, unlike now.

Right now they had nothing that showed they were making any progress. It had been almost one week and all they had was that some people in the simulation had a strange fixation on rocket bottles.

To a side, Yamaguchi and Hikasa were talking, drinking coffee. Yamaguchi had just gotten off her seat at the console that controlled Monobear, although she wasn't taking too badly anymore the task of being the host of the game – and had managed to stay until after the execution – her face showed she still didn't like anything of what was going on. She looked disheartened, staring into the cup of coffee while Hikasa tried to give her some encouraging words. Azalea couldn't hear what exactly he was saying, but it had to be good, because after a while Yamaguchi smiled a bit and nodded, mouthing 'thank you'.

Toyotomi typed into the main administrator console, conferring with the AI that kept order of the simulation. They had been lucky that the Alter Ego AI the previous users of this system had with them had left a copy to 'watch over the system, just in case'. Without it, they wouldn't know what to do, nor how to control everything inside. "...the parameters are correct this time. The storage will be available at sunrise the next day" Toyotomi was saying softly.

"I'm sorry for my mistake last time..." Akane faintly heart Alter Ego's voice. It sounded a bit meek, like it feared to be scolded. No surprise there, to Alter Ego they were a bunch of strangers asking her to help them. Of course she wouldn't know how they'd react to this kind of problems. Toyotomi made a calming gesture with his hand.

"It's no big deal, don't worry about that. The crime scene has been cleaned up already and the damage done by the liquid nitrogen has been erased..." he continued with his evaluation of the simulation, that was going to continue for a long while.

Mitsuhiko plopped himself next to her, getting her attention and passing her an unsealed bottle of water. He had one for himself, too. "What's in your mind?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"You're staring at everyone as if we're a bunch of circus freaks" he said crudely, taking a swig out of a bottle of water. Akane still didn't like Mitsuhiko that much, but the hunter had apparently warmed up to her. "You can tell me if something worries you. We're all in the same situation, after all"

Akane was silent for a moment, her hand lightly touched the keyboard on her console. "When we started this I knew it'd be a while before we saw any results, and I never expected to find anything that could be meaningful to me as a person in any way. But I did, and now I don't know what to think about it"

"What did you find?"

Akane looked around before lowering her voice. "Don't tell the others yet. I want to keep this to myself – and you – until I have the chance to confirm this myself. It's about Azalea Stravopoulos"

Mitsuhiko put his hands on his knees, slouching. "The woman who has led the trials so far? What about her?"

"You saw her hair? And the shape of her face, and...have you taken a good look at her?"

"Well, yeah, I did. You and her look similar"

"It's more than looking similar. Did you see the locket she has? She has a photo of herself, Chrysanthe and their mother. Now look at this" Akane took out of her pants her wallet, opening it and looking for something inside. Soon she took out a picture, passing it to Mitsuhiko.

It was a photo of Akane, around ten years old, with a man and a woman...Azalea's mother. They all seemed very happy to be there, that was a normal photo, just a family posing in front of a pastel background. Mitsuhiko frowned, puzzled, seeing Azalea's mother here. "Ogata-san, what's this supposed to mean?"

"That's _my_ Mama"

"But then that means—"

"Yes...Azalea and I are half-sisters, apparently" Akane took the photo back, stuffing it back into the wallet "I never thought I'd find out I have a half-sister...what a weird world we live in, right?"

Mitsuhiko hummed, a bit surprised by the revelation. "You never knew you had a sister?"

"I told you she's half-sister, I'm sure Papa had nothing to do with this" Akane smiled sadly "I didn't think Mama would have another family somewhere else...guess I should have seen it coming. She used to spend most of the year abroad, it was an agreement with Papa. She had to work, and the money she sent us all the time was more than enough to give us a nice life. We didn't think there was anything weird about it"

"It's not your fault, nobody would think she was getting laid with another man"

Akane frowned. "Don't say that again" she warned before continuing "She used to stay with us two or three months every year...I liked a lot when she did. It's thanks to her that I got interested in chemistry, and I owe a lot to her"

"What do you think of her now?" that was a rather bold question, but Mitsuhiko didn't seem to care too much about how it sounded.

"To be honest...I feel nothing bad. It just feels weird to know I have a half-sister" Akane tilted her head "What does that make Chrysanthe? She and I have no blood relation at all. Anyways, I think Azalea was happy with Mama too...and she took Chrysanthe into her other family even if she didn't have to...

...she may have two families and be unfaithful and all, but...I think she really loved all of us. I think she loved Papa, and she loved Azalea's dad...and she loved all her daughters too"

"That doesn't excuse cheating on your dad"

"I know it doesn't, but I just can't hate her for that. I don't want to hate her, either" Akane rubbed strands of her hair between her fingers, thinking back to the recent years "I haven't seen her for so long...I'm pretty sure she's still alive, she's not the kind of person that'd get herself killed"

"So you don't know where she is right now?"

"I don't have the slightest idea. When the Tragedy started she was in Greece, so I guess she may still be over there. I have been thinking to look for her, but I don't know yet where to start"

Mitsuhiko was in silence for a moment, unsure if he should bring the topic. He took a decision. "What about your dad?"

"Papa was killed by rioters a year ago. He had gone out to look for food and he was caught by surprise" Akane said with low voice "I stayed in the apartment we had been living at until my killing game happened. It's good that he didn't know about Mama's cheating, that'd have broken his heart. He was a very sensitive man..."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Ogata-san"

"It's okay, I'm fine. I came to terms with it long ago" Akane glanced at the screens behind her "I wonder how Azalea will react once she hears we're half-sisters? She's close to Chrysanthe, maybe she and I can be close too"

"Unless Azalea is one of the three killers we're looking for" Mitsuhiko pointed. The possibility made Akane cringe.

"...do you seriously think she could be Valkyrie or Vieiras?"

"It's a possibility. I'm not saying she is, I'm just saying she could be one of them" the hunter shrugged "Or it could be Chrysanthe, or even Vittoria. We don't know yet which Hostages are brainwashed and evil"

As much as Akane hated to admit it, Mitsuhiko was right. She couldn't ignore the possibility any of them was one of the three they were looking for. Until now they hadn't done much progress in that, but the less Hostages around, the more chances they had of finding one, right?

This whole plan could be going much better than this, that was for sure.

-ooooo-

The rest of the night went by without much trouble, except for a few of the Hostages.

Slowly, some of the cottages opened, the Hostages residing in them slowly going outside. None of them said a word, simply looking at each other with excited grins on their faces. All of the hostile AIs had already tried to take control of the virtual environment, but they had failed. The bodies they were inhabiting right now were like firewalls to them, no matter what they did, they couldn't affect anything beyond them. They didn't even have control over those bodies yet.

That was why that was their actual objective: achieve control over the bodies, erasing more and more of their hosts' consciousness.

One of the targets gestured them to be silent and pointed upwards, to the night sky. Were the kidnappers watching? Unlikely. As long as they didn't alert the one real administrator of the virtual world they'd have liberty to do whatever they wanted. The targets descended the stairs of the cottages, intending to get closer to each other and discuss what to do, but their movements were sluggish, very slow, like they had to do a lot of effort to move. The bodies were still resisting them.

It seemed that they needed a little more time before they achieved complete control. To avoid trouble, they all tacitly agreed to wait for the next chance they had. For now returning to the cottages and making sure their hosts didn't suspect anything was their course of action.

How much time did those one, two or three current targets have before they got caught? None of them knew.


	18. Chapter 3:No Good Deed Goes Unpunished I

Despite the fact they had lost two Hostages more, the mood the next day wasn't as blue as it was after the first trial. Had they all gotten used to the cycle of murder and trial? Hardly. It was more because they had all reached a tacit agreement:

Don't show weakness.

It was difficult not to have moments of weakness, given this was a virtual world and therefore it was likely the kidnappers watching them knew if anyone despaired in private, but everyone was doing a good enough job keeping the appearances while being together. Breakfast was energetic to the point of being glaringly forced.

Vittoria put on the table a large plate with piles of pancakes. "Here it is. Everyone, please enjoy"

"That looks great! Vittoria, you must be some sort of expert cook!" Azalea praised, a tad too enthusiastic. Vittoria waved a hand dismissively.

"You do not need to be a five-star restaurant chef to be able to make blueberry pancakes. It is a simple dish"

"But it look good. Thanks for this" Joanna hurried to take her portions.

"It is the least I should do. I am the leader, after all" she took her seat "How did you all sleep last night? Anyone got nightmares or was not able to fall asleep?"

Thioro looked around, noticing the eye bags some of the hostages had. "Who cares about that. Change of topic: there's going to be new areas today"

"Oh, yeah, you're right...I bet it's one of the buildings in the Plaza. There are several left right now" Runihura said.

"We're going to divide in teams again to explore?" Dalia asked.

"We should. You do it, Vittoria. What matters is that we find something good! It could even be the storage that got taken away last time"

"Right..." Thioro suppressed a sigh. Everyone really was trying too hard not to address the elephant in the room. Trying to not look too aggressive, the detective crossed his arms, not having touched his food "Okay, enough of the charade for now. Khotso and Aleksey died. What're we going to do now?"

Lucien scoffed, busy with his breakfast. "The same we always do, wait and see what happens. You forgot we're _hostages_?"

"That doesn't mean we have to give up about searching. There must be something the kidnappers missed when making all this"

"Aleksey'd be useful if he were alive. He could sneak into the NPC's office and steal their keys or something"

"I wish Aleksey was here...and Khotso was nice, too" Chrysanthe mumbled.

"Okay, we won't get anywhere if we keep thinking about them. We need to do something right now or else you all will start a pity party"

"Well said. A tad more uncaring than I'd have said, but I agree. I shall organize the teams, but before that:" Vittoria inhaled "If any of you feel the need to talk about what happened, or want someone to listen to you, my door is always open. Please feel free to come anytime"

"Wait, before we go: there's something else we need to discuss. What are we going to do about Kamiya?" the detective said, looking at the far end of the table where Kamiya had been isolated. Everyone else was huddled on the other end, not wanting to even be close to Kamiya. The pharmacist looked like he couldn't care less about the way he was being treated right now, though.

"What can we do? The administrators said we can not do anything to restrain or hinder him"

"That's unfair, it's his fault Khotso killed Aleksey! We should be able to do something" Chrysanthe said, rancor seeping into her voice. Nobody else shared her passion about avenging the most recent victims of the game, though. Joanna, for example, shook her head, looking condescendingly at Chrysanthe.

"How naïve...you should understand it's not like Khotso was powerless here. He made the choice to murder"

"But we can't blame it all on Khotso!"

Joanna ignored that. "Let's make someone watch over Kamiya, follow him around and all. I don't think he'd attempt murder by himself"

"Why do you think that?" Matthew asked.

"Because if he were willing to kill, he'd have killed Aleksey instead of making Khotso do it"

Elaine shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I'm not convinced, but okay. We should make someone stalwart in their moral code be the one to watch over Kamiya, someone who wouldn't be swayed by anything he does"

"Bonus points if it's someone who can restrain him or fight back if attacked" Matthew added.

"Exactly! And for those reasons I nominate my brother as the one to watch Kamiya"

"Yeah, that's—wait what?!" Matthew raised his voice so much that sounded more like a screech. Why did it have to be him? For a moment the engineer regretted even talking during this meeting "You can't just say I'll be the one to do this!"

"But you're the best guy for the job. You don't want _me_ to do it, right?"

"Okay, no, but—"

"See? Matthew, I really need you to do this...please. It's for all of our sakes. We need your help"

Matthew seemed to be at a loss of words for a moment, before sighing. It looked like this wasn't the first time Elaine managed to get him to do something. "Okay, I will. Sheesh..."

"Thanks. I owe you another one"

"Wow, she has him wrapped around her little finger" Dalia smirked "But we got our caretaker for Kamiya, so all is okay"

Kamiya raised a hand, not even taking the time to look at them. "I can hear all you guys are saying, you know. Don't I get a say in this?"

" _No!"_

"Figures." He pushed aside his plate "I don't plan on killing any of you, don't worry. In fact, I don't think I'll ask anyone to kill anyone, either"

"You say that just because there's no motive yet"

Kamiya was silent for a moment. "Okay, you got a point there. Fine, do whatever you want" without saying goodbye, Kamiya stood up and left the room, Matthew following him shortly after. Everyone left in the Dining Hall tried to ignore what Kamiya had said and to focus on the present.

"Okay, let's organize the exploration teams" Vittoria got everyone's attention and divided them in teams to explore Heavenly Resort, agreeing to meet in the Plaza in one hour. Azalea was assigned to the area around the cabins along with Chrysanthe. Even though they examined the area carefully there didn't seem to be much to report – unless the newly grown plants was enough for that. Chrysanthe's eyes shone with delight when she saw the lush bushes and plants in the Garden.

"Lea, look! They did what they said they'd do! Look all these plants and flowers!"

"The perks of this being a virtual world, huh" Azalea examined the plants. They looked rather healthy, with no differences from the one from the real world. It was a bit startling how in matter of days these plants had grown to the point they had bloomed. Chrysanthe was delighted, though.

"I know I had nothing to do with how good they look, but I can't avoid feeling proud about these"

"You think this is worth telling everyone else?"

Chrysanthe tempered her joy. "Um...I don't think it's _that_ important. Other than this I don't think anything else changed around here"

 _Then the other teams must have found something._ There had to be some change somewhere, it was impossible there were no new places at all, wasn't it? Unfortunately, it seemed the amount of new places for everyone to find was zero, according to everyone's reports once the one-hour deadline was up. Nobody was happy about that.

"We did find out we have our storage back" Vittoria noted.

"Yeah, that just means there are many more tools for someone to commit murder with now" Kamiya had once again been pushed aside by everyone, but that didn't stop him from giving remarks.

Kouma crossed her arms. "I hate to agree with the jerkass, but he's right. I bet the next murder will happen with stuff from the storage"

"We can't do anything about it, so forget about the storage and just focus on living"

"Shut up, nobody asked for your opinion. Anyways – that means there won't be new places? No more?"

Lucien turned his head towards the last unopened building in the Plaza. "That one still exists. Surely it'll be open once someone dies"

"And that may be unavoidable, once that bear gives the motive we'll see if someone will—"

Matthew groaned loudly. "Do you ever shut up?!" The pharmacist, a bit startled by the shout, lowered his voice, but kept going in defiance.

"Admit I'm right. Unless we know what the motive is we can't know if anyone's going to fall for it"

"Yeah, right" Azalea glared at him, talking with biting tone "If you think it's worth it you'll get someone to kill"

"Azalea, that's enough" Joanna intervened, stepping between Azalea and Kamiya "I know we're all angry with him, but don't let him get to you like that!"

She was right. There was no sense in arguing with Kamiya. Azalea sighed, making a point to step as far away as possible from Kamiya. That guy simply didn't seem like the same guy he was when she had met him just a week ago...had he been hiding his true nature all this time? Vittoria's orders and requests seemed garbled to her, Azalea was distracted with her own thoughts. After a while it seemed Vittoria was done.

"Sir Matthew, I request you continue to watch over Kamiya and make sure he does not cause any trouble. As a reward for your services, we will—oh no" the leader lowered her voice, the reason for her sudden silence obvious for anyone who looked where she was staring. There, leaning against the stone fence that divided the Plaza from the emptiness that was the sky, was Monobear, picking his teeth with a claw. When he noticed everyone was looking at him with disdain, he stopped, turning his head around with confusion.

"What? Come on, keep going. I'm curious" Nobody said a thing, everyone trying to bore a hole into Monobear with their stares. When it was obvious nobody was willing to continue as long as Monobear was there, he sighed theatrically "You're going to hurt my feelings, bastards. Bears have feelings too"

"Shut up and get straight to the point" Kamiya was the only one who dared to say something.

"Why so impatient? Itching to encourage someone to kill? It's nice to have an eager participant here!" Monobear went to the statues in the center of the Plaza and got onto the pedestal "Okay, bastards, I bring good news, and bad news. The bad news is that there are...sudden problems in the real world"

"Problems? What kind of problems?" Elaine inquired. Others were as confused as here, but one or two of the Hostages seemed to have more of an idea of what Monobear was talking about.

"I'm not sure, but I think the world and society was as good as gone. Can't get worse than that" Dalia said. Monobear chuckled, a bit amused.

"You're not wrong about that, but that's not what I mean. Turns out kidnapping a bunch of people and making them kill each other is starting to be frowned upon in today's world. Awful, isn't it? So, to avoid problems, we're going to have to step up our schedule even more. I'll give you the motive right now" _Now? It has been less than twelve hours since Khotso died!_ Whatever was happening in the real world had to be really bad if things were starting to hurry up like this. "The good news is that this means there'll be more murder for you all to enjoy. I bet your days are looking a little bit brighter with these good news!" As if on cue, the environment got brighter.

"...you can't be serious..." Runihura rolled his eyes at the bad joke.

"And if that wasn't enough, as a bonus this motive will answer the one thing you all have been wondering since the beginning" Monobear's red eye glowed threateningly "...why you're all here" That was enough to get everyone's attention. Finally, the reason for their kidnapping! "Look at all your eager stares. Maaaaaybe I should think of a different motive, keep you all in suspense for a bit longer..."

 _"No!"_ Thioro almost bolted forward. Nobody had expected the detective to shout that loudly, not even Monobear did. After a moment of silence, Monobear shrugged.

"Alright, no need to make a ruckus, Meziane-kun, I'll tell you all. It all started with a worldwide criminal organization called Diavolos Avante" the bear watched everyone's reactions. Only one person looked like she knew what he was talking about. Vittoria was adjusting her tie, trying to feign to not be rattled by what Monobear was saying, but the way her hand was trembling betrayed her calm "It was a very influential organization, growing and growing. Around eight years ago it made its first incursions into Japan. Their leader and his three most trusted...advisors managed to gather people and start the Asian branch. All was okay for everyone...until the fire nation attacked!" nobody had any idea what that was supposed to mean "Upupu, sorry, I couldn't resist that. The problem is that those three advisors had a lot of ambition, and last year they acted to fulfill them.

Too bad that included murdering the leader of the organization"

A choked whimper sounded behind Azalea. When she turned around she found Vittoria, who had gone completely still. "What's wrong?" she asked, but Vittoria didn't answer. Her eyes were on Monobear, ignoring everyone else.

Monobear continued. "But things went wrong, and to make a long story short, they're now on the run. Thaaaat's where you bastards come in! We captured you sixteen because these three dangerous criminals are among you sixteen!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucien asked slowly, narrowing his eyes in concentration.

"I mean what it sounded like. Three of you are murderers, people who direct criminal activities in a global scale. That's the key to getting out of here:

Once those three criminals are dead...the rest of you innocent ones will be allowed to leave"

For a moment there was silence, disbelief. So that was what was going on... "That's what you want us to do? You want us to kill...to kill those three?" Azalea asked, pressing her hands against her mouth.

"Okay, okay, maiming or capturing them is valid too. What matters is that they're neutralized. Got it?"

"This is preposterous! You're just pushing your problems onto us!" Joanna protested.

"You kidnapped us in the first place, and now you want us to kill them?!" Elaine added. Despite the Hostages' outrage, Monobear continued rather carefree about this all.

"Ah, you know how the saying goes, you've got to crack a few beehives to gather honey"

It was not a nice deal. Azalea's reaction was to reject it, but even if she didn't want to admit it, there was this nagging feeling in her, like she was actually tempted to go ahead and stay on the lookout for those criminals. They were the key to their freedom. Finding them was – _but I don't even know who we're supposed to look for!_

Kouma crossed her arms. "Alright, I think I don't like this very much but...how are they? Any clues?"

"Are you seriously considering his offer?" Lucien asked, a bit surprised. Kouma shrugged.

"I'm not saying I will – but it's a good idea to know about them, just in case"

"Gyahaha, about time someone showed initiative! Okay, listen here" Monobear got more serious, most traces of his usual carefree tone disappearing "We don't have much information about them, but we do have their codenames. Valkyrie is female, Wolfenmaus is male...and the last one, Vieiras, could be anything. We don'ft know their gender"

"What about their bodies?" Dalia inquired.

"Two are rather average and could be disguising their height and body shape easily, but there's one we're more confident about: Wolfenmaus is a rather large man, athletic and strong"

"A-A big man...?" Vittoria murmured. All the heads turned towards Runihura, who stammered back, clutching his video camera with apprehension.

"Hey, what are you all looking me for? I'm not that Wolfenmaus guy!"

"You do fit the descriptions. It could be you" Kamiya pointed.

"But I'm not! Come on, guys!"

"Wait, we're forgetting something" Joanna hurried to add, noticing some of the Hostages looked like they were going to try to restrain Wolfenmaus "We all look like we did years ago, when we were teenagers. What if this Wolfenmaus guy is someone who grew and got all fit?"

"She's right - Runihura may not be Wolfenmaus. Alistair could be, right? Or Aleksey" Kouma wondered. Monobear thought for a moment, measuring his words carefully.

"...it could be. There's a small chance someone who died is one of the criminals. Who knows"

"Wait a second, something does not fit here..." Vittoria hid her face a bit more behind her hair "We all look like teenagers. Why did you do that?"

"That's secret" Monobear said way too quickly.

"I understand. In that case, you all see our actual bodies in the real world. How can you not deduce who Wolfenmaus is, based on the body?"

"If there's more than one person with that body shape—" Dalia started to suggest, chance Monobear pounced on.

"Yep, that's exactly it! There's more than one Hostage who would fit. What a problem!"

"Hey, I have a question too! Why did you all get us here in this virtual world instead of dealing with this outside?" Matthew asked "Why are you bothering with all this?"

"That's secret too. Did you all forget what this is about? This is an offer we're making to you!"

"You can't just tell that stuff and expect no questions at all!" Azalea yelled. She had been about to add something else, but Vittoria put a hand on Azalea's shoulder, stopping her. "Vittoria...?"

"Monobear. Are you completely sure about everything you have said? Are they related to DeeEy? Is...is their leader deceased?"

"I'm telling the truth and nothing more than the truth" Monobear replied with a surprising amount of solemnity.

"...you lie. You must be lying. Admit you are lying!" suddenly, Vittoria raised her voice, making Azalea recoil from how close to her ear she was. Monobear stared, inexpressive, before growling.

"I'm not going to stay here and let you accuse me like that. I gave my offer! It's up to you all to decide what to do! Find them, capture them, kill them, do whatever you want! But remember that if someone dies, even if it's them, there will be a trial!" and having said that, Monobear disappeared in thin air. The Hostages dissolved into disorganized discussion, groups forming to yell at each other about everything Monobear had said.

"We can't take his offer! What are we supposed to do?" Dalia was saying.

"We don't even know if anything he said is for real. He could have invented all that to get us to mistrust each other" Matthew argued.

"Why to lie about that? He could have said 'if nobody dies we'll shave all your hair' or something instead of making this whole mess" Joanna adjusted her gloves slowly, mulling Monobear's information.

"We don't have a way to know which people we're looking for!" Kouma said.

"But we must try. We lose nothing by looking around" Azalea said, pointing upwards "Now that I think about it, I think I know where we can start. A week ago, after the first trial, I went to the communal building and there I found..." Azalea explained everything she knew about Sigrun Solheim, and what Joanna had said when she had talked to her about that.

"So this Sigrun Solheim may be Valkyrie? Joanna did say Sigrun was the name of a valkyrie, that much is true" Lucien said, eyeing Joanna with wariness "Are you sure you know what you're talking about?"

"Completely sure. It's common knowledge" she said.

"Fine. We have a lead and that's what matters" he said. They were all about to depart when Lucien saw Matthew making a face of uncertainty. "What? You got something to say?"

"Maybe I do. It's just that...do you guys think the kidnappers are aiming at a specific person with these motives?"

"What do you mean, Matt?" Elaine asked.

"Remember last week? We all got our treasured possessions threatened. That was perfect to get a thief's attention, and Lucien looked uncharacteristically shaken by it—"

"I'd rather you don't mention that ever again" Lucien muttered.

"—and now there's this. You saw how Vittoria reacted, but what if there are others this is meant to target?"

"Like Joanna? She knows about someone who may be this Valkyrie woman"

"It's just about the name, nothing else" she corrected.

"And the description of that Wolfenmaus fits Runihura" Azalea pointed. Runihura was going to rush to defend himself, so she added: "But that doesn't mean he _is_ Wolfenmaus"

"Um, you and I think that, but...what if someone here does believe it...and tries to kill him?" Dalia said fearfully. The implications were clear, and Runihura really didn't like them. He gripped the belt of his video camera with anxiety, looking around.

"Okay, I'm really not that Wolfenmaus guy. You have to believe me!"

"You should watch your back, just in case"

"Let's call it a day. You keep an eye on Kamiya" Thioro told Matthew, who nodded, resigned. Someone had to do it, even if Kamiya didn't sound that interested in murdering anyone or convincing anybody to kill. There wasn't even a motive that affected him – but it still needed to be done. Other than that, everyone had to keep an eye open for any clues they may find. _This is our chance. If we find and capture any of those criminals we may convince the kidnappers to let us go._

 _But are they really among us...?_ That was hard to believe, but after two murders, she couldn't reject that idea.

Finding them was easier said than done. Where were they supposed to start?

* * *

 **As usual, it's Free Time next time, so is there's someone you'd like to see, feel free to let me know through private message or a comment.**


	19. Chapter3:No Good Deed Goes Unpunished II

Being told there were a few dangerous criminals among them caused a lot of distrust. During the rest of the morning, she saw everyone walking by themselves, instead of choosing the company of one or two friends. The few people Azalea looked to the eyes hurried to go away, not even bothering to say a word. Matthew was the only exception, but that was only because he was dealing with Kamiya. "How's it going?" he asked, not looking in mood for a conversation.

The tense atmosphere got so uncomfortable that soon Azalea couldn't resist anymore. She started wandering around, looking for anyone, but the resort was almost empty. Was everyone staying in their cabins? _It can't be we're all paranoid about what Monobear said! But_ there was a reason to be paranoid. Surely that was what Monobear hoped: that they'd all start looking at each other with suspicion.

"Runihura!"

Finally, someone was out and walking! Runihura was coming out of the communal building, holding a plate with food. When he saw Azalea he smiled, but kept walking. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I thought you'd like to talk. Want to hang out?"

"Uh..." he looked towards his cabin, still not stopping "I don't really have time for that? I'm sleepy and hungry, so I'm eating this and...returning to bed. Yeah. Don't worry about me"

"But it's noon! Come on, let's talk"

He put his hand on the doorknob. "Thanks but no thanks. Look, I'm tired and right now I don't really want anything with any of you. The whole thing Monobear said trying to point fingers at me got me in bad mood. I just want to sleep for a while"

It wasn't farfetched that saying Runihura was one of the most likely people to be one of the three they were looking for would leave him in bad mood. Although she wanted to follow him, tell him that everything would be okay and that nobody believed he was one of those three, she didn't move towards him, respecting his distance. He needed his time alone, she guessed.

But still...Runihura wasn't the only one who was affected in some way. Now that she thought about it, there were others that may need some support. Like Vittoria. Some thought the motive was aimed especially at her. What did she know about that organization? And not only that, Azalea also wanted to make sure she'd be okay. If she was feeling like Runihura right now then there'd be trouble later. It was a good idea to at least make sure she'd be okay.

Hoping she wasn't going to reject her, Azalea knocked on Vittoria's door, trying to look calmer than she felt. When Vittoria opened the door all Azalea could see was a bright green eye, Vittoria didn't open the door completely. "Lady Azalea. What brings you here today?"

"Hi? I thought I should see how you were doing. Is this a bad time?"

"No, you are welcome here. Allow me" A scraping noise sounded behind the door before it opened completely. When Azalea entered she found out Vittoria had placed a trunk against the door before. _That's not a good sign of sanity and emotional order._ Vittoria sat on the bed and gestured to a rather ornate armchair, indicating Azalea she could sit there "I must say I did not expect a visit. This is very appreciated, Lady Azalea"

Azalea stared at Vittoria attentively. Even though it had been just a couple hours since Monobear's announcement, Vittoria looked drained. "I was wondering what was going on with you. You looked...rattled by what Monobear said"

"I am rather transparent sometimes, it seems. Lady Azalea, can I trust you to not tell others what we will talk about now?" _Well that was easy_. Azalea wasn't going to complain if this meant finding out what was going on. Azalea nodded, crossing her hands over her lap. Vittoria looked around, as if she expected someone to be eavesdropping, and started talking:

"I am familiar with the organization Monobear mentioned. It is the organization I was going to inherit"

"Wait, that means your parents are big mobsters-?"

"No, no, that is not correct. It was my uncle. He and I were rather close, and once my parents were...unable to take care of me anymore, he adopted me. At first he tried to hide his less than legal activities from me, but I found out my accident. Instead of throwing me away like I feared despite how kind I thought he was, he explained everything to me.

So I decided to help him. As thanks for keeping me for years"

It was almost surreal to hear about a teenager wanting to help a relative with a criminal empire, but Azalea had no reason to doubt it. That was the title the kidnappers had given her. "So that's why...they said your uncle was dead. I'd be freaking out too"

"It is not just that. I do not have all my memories, but I remember leaving him. There was something I needed to do" Vittoria lowered her voice, it was shaking a bit "I do not want to think that the reason why the organization fell is because I left. That would mean I ruined everything he had worked for years. I repaid his kindness with..." she couldn't finish the sentence.

Azalea prudently gave Vittoria a moment to calm down. Even though the criminal heiress looked mostly calm, guessed she wasn't used to displaying these feelings in front of other people. Wouldn't some consider those feelings as weakness? And someone in charge of a criminal organization couldn't allow that to happen. "So..." Azalea said after waiting for a moment "If you were the second in charge, you should know who those three criminals are, right?"

"I do not know the identities of the three traitors. My uncle had a few flaws, the most notorious was that he was too trusting. He valued loyalty over everything else. As show of trust, he gave the main board ample powers, and trusted them without supervising them at all. I always told him that was a bad idea, but he never listened to me. He insisted they were loyal"

"No offense, Vittoria, but your uncle sounds like..."

"Like what?"

"...again, no offense, but he sounds like kind of a dumbass"

For a moment Vittoria said nothing, simply looking at Azalea with bewildered expression. _I shouldn't have said that!_ But before Azalea could apologize, Vittoria started laughing, hiding her face with her hands. "Oh no, you said that...you really said that! I can not believe you said that!" she managed to say, her voice squeaking, before she started laughing raucously again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend—"

"Offend? Lady Azalea, I'm in complete agreement! My uncle was...he was..." she pressed her hands against her mouth, tears in her eyes. Whether they were from mirth or sorrow was something Azalea didn't know "...he was 'a dumbass'. Nobody I knew had called him that to his face, ever!"

"So you're not offended?"

"Of course I am not offended!" Vittoria calmed down her laughter, smiling bashfully "If only someone had told him that to his face maybe our situation would be different. Ah, if only he had met you..."

Azalea's expression softened. There was something else in Vittoria she was perceiving now. Bottled sorrow, wistfulness...it was likely there was even regret in her. "I'm sure you'd have told him that if you felt like it. You're such a strong woman, Vittoria!"

"Ah...no, that is not true. If I were strong, I would have told him that long ago" Vittoria bit her lip "Lady Azalea, I said I left him and the organization. There is something else...I also left him because I started to get fed up with him. He was starting to lose sight of what he wanted to do with DeeEy, and he did not even try to listen to me. So I left.

Perhaps if I had told him he was being 'a dumbass' he would have listened to me. Then I would not have run away, and he would not be...he would not be dead" she took out of her pocket a pin, showing it to Azalea. It depicted three triangles joined together, side to side "My prized possession, this pin. It is the pin that symbolizes DeeEy. My bond with my uncle..." with the tip of her fingertip, she touched the pin, smiling sadly. All Azalea could do was stay silent, looking at Vittoria with pity. Vittoria wished things had gone differently. There was no possibility of fixing it now, or to apologize to her uncle. All she had left now were regrets.

"I'm sorry that's how things went, Vittoria" Azalea said softly, trying to soothe her. Even though Vittoria hadn't raised her voice at all, she felt her friend was keeping her sorrow bottled.

"Do not be sorry. That was my decision, and I shall live with it for the rest of my life" Vittoria put the pin back in her pocket. "Do you want to stay for a little longer? There are so many stories I can tell you, if you want"

 _Vittoria regaled me with tales of her criminal exploits._

-ooooo-

Maybe it was because Monobear had requested a new murder before 24 hours passed, but it seemed like the day was going by slower than usual. Lunch time passed by without incidents, but it wasn't the usual social time she had already gotten used to. Although pretty much everybody gathered together willingly, the whole lunch went by in silence. Not even when Vittoria tried to rouse everyone's spirits anyone seemed to feel any better. "We need to continue supporting each other" she had said. Perhaps the reason why it didn't work was because Vittoria wasn't talking with conviction? It all sounded like empty platitudes, as if Vittoria was just paying lip service to everyone.

"Can't you say something?" Joanna whispered to Azalea.

"Say something about what?" Azalea asked.

"Something! You're the motivator, you should know what to say. Look at us! Nobody here's looking good"

Right, she had to say something. Azalea slowly stands up, raising her voice to talk to everyone. "Uh, everyone? Don't give up. There's still a lot to do. Let's not give up" she didn't sound sincere at all, she had said that in an almost monotone way. It was no surprise nobody was roused up by her speech. The rest of the Hostages looked languidly at Azalea, not even bothering to comment.

"Ugh, you're useless" Joanna muttered, standing up. One by one, everybody left the Dining Hall, leaving Azalea alone. She sighed and put her head in her hands, staring at the grainy surface of the table for a long time. So much for the SHSL Motivator. She was decent at the trials and investigations, but other than that, she really was useless, just like Joanna had said. What was she supposed to do now?

...focus on the investigation, find those three the kidnappers were looking for. That was something she had to do. But where to start? She had no idea where she was supposed to look. Without a plan, she'd just be wandering around aimlessly.

"...why did this have to happen to us?" she said, standing up. Well, if she can't cheer up everyone, then maybe she should focus on one person at once. Chrysanthe, for example. That was her priority. Chrysanthe was a stronger person than most thought, but it was Azalea's responsibility to make sure she'd be okay. Better go take a look, make sure her judgment of Chrysanthe's strength was accurate.

It didn't take long for Azalea to find Chrysanthe. The gardener was at the Garden, kneeling in middle of the dirt and the flower bushes. Her uniform was dirty; her cardigan had been placed on the fence of the garden. When Azalea approached, Chrysanthe smiled tiredly, letting go of the spade she had been using "How're you feeling, Lea?"

"Why do you ask?" she had expected to ask that to Chrysanthe, not the other way.

"You tried to cheer us up. I think that means _you_ needed someone to cheer you up" Chrysanthe shook the dirt off her hands "So do you need someone to talk to you?"

"No, not really" she said. Chrysanthe shrugged, deciding not to pressure Azalea, and went into the gardening shed to get the shears. While she was away Azalea sat on the fence, taking the locket she had received from the last motive and opening it, looking at the photo inside. _Mom..._ Maybe Thioro was right. Talking with Chrysanthe about her biological mother may be the right thing to do, if only to make sure there weren't any ill feelings towards her – more than the hate Chrysanthe felt, at least? Azalea wasn't expecting her sister to stop hating her biological mother, but she did hope to at least help diminish some of that hate.

When Chrysanthe came out of the shed, Azalea beckoned her. "You got a treasure with the last motive, right? The one about our valuable objects"

"I didn't"

"Wait, what?!" That derailed the few things Azalea had planned to say. What was that supposed to mean? "Are you serious?"

"That's weird, right?" Chrysanthe's hand went to the pendant around her neck, playing with the petals "But when you think about it, it makes sense. I had my treasure with me all this time. I can't receive it twice"

"You mean that pendant is your valuable possession?"

"It is. Mom gave it to me, of course it'd be what I cherish the most. Why do you ask?"

Azalea put the locket forward. "I wanted to show you mine. Look at this locket"

"Didn't Mom have something like that pendant once?"

"It is. Look inside, it's a photo of us and Mom" she showed the photography "I think this is what the treasure is, not the locket. Wait..." Maybe Chrysanthe did receive a valuable object! "Chrys, what if the pendant has something inside too? Try to take the petals off or something"

"I don't know if I should—" Chrysanthe didn't finish the sentence. The top of the pendant could be taken off, revealing a tiny compartment inside. There was a tiny piece of paper inside, folded over and over until it was just a few millimeters wide. "What's this?"

"Open it!"

"I really don't know if I should—" but she did, nonetheless. Chrysanthe shook off the paper onto her hand and opened it, showing the top. "This has my name. What's this? A letter?"

Azalea glanced in direction of the Communal Building for a moment. "And you had never seen this before?"

"No, never. What's the point of giving me something I haven't ever seen before?"

It was unlikely that was just a coincidence – it was possible the flower pendant had the letter inside even in reality. In that case, how did the kidnappers know about it? "Come on, read it"

Chrysanthe smoothed the letter and started reading aloud. "'Chrysanthe, my dear daughter. This is an apology to you—' what the hell...?" she narrowed her eyes and pushed the letter onto Azalea's chest "I don't care about this letter anymore"

"Are you sure? It looks pretty important" And private, too. Azalea skimmed the letter, trying not to read too much of the content of the letter. It was just like it had sounded: a letter from Chrysanthe's biological mother. It was no wonder Chrysanthe had reacted like that "You should read this"

"I told you I don't care"

"But it's—"

"Why'd I be interested in what she has to say? Apologies? I don't care at all!" Chrysanthe tightened the top of the flower pendant so much the metal screeched loudly "You keep it. I'm not changing my mind"

Azalea said nothing for a moment. She wasn't going to be able to convince Chrysanthe to read the letter right now, but maybe in the future she would? "Chrys, I'm going to be blunt with you for a moment: you need to face this letter someday"

"I don't have to face anything, Lea"

"You should. This exists for a reason"

"I told you I don't care about what she has to say! And I don't want to talk about this anymore. Please, stop" her face was starting to get tense. It was matter of time before she got enraged. _I don't want her to get angry with me, I better stop_. Not that it stopped Azalea from giving one last barb:

"You're being immature, Chrys"

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" she snapped, passing her hands over her face. For a moment Azalea and Chrysanthe just sat there, unsure of what to say each other. It felt like a single imprudent word would damage their bond irreparably, that one single comment would erase any trust they had with each other. Azalea took a deep breath, trying to think of a kind way to say what she had in mind, but there simply wasn't any way.

Chrysanthe was the one to break the silence. Her breathing was funny. "I'm sorry for what I said, Lea. It's just that—I'm stressed, and that didn't help. I didn't mean to shout at you like that"

"It's okay"

"I mean it, I'm sorry" Chrysanthe extended a hand "Will you forgive me?"

Azalea looked between her hand and Chrysanthe before grabbing her from the wrist and gently pulling her towards herself, and hugged her. "You don't need to ask"

"Lea..."

"You're my sister, Chrys. I'll always be there for you no matter what. We'll continue onwards, together"

Chrysanthe didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around Azalea, returning the hug as strongly as she could. "I know you will" the hug lasted a while longer, they hadn't hugged like this since they were kids. Once they let each other go, Chrysanthe grasped the flower pendant looking at it with hesitation "...you're right, Lea. I need to read it. I don't feel prepared yet, but someday I will. I promise"

And if Chrysanthe promised it, Azalea had no doubt she meant it. She watched Chrysanthe continue gardening for a while longer. "I want to do something special tonight. Do you know if there are any vases anywhere?"

"I'll ask" Azalea got off the fence and went towards the administrators building, asking the admins inside if there were any vases they could borrow.

"Here are some" Spots answered, bringing a huge cardboard box and leaving it on the floor. The contents tinkled, it sounded like there were quite a lot of vases inside.

Stripes looked at Azalea judgmentally. Even though his expression never changed, there was contempt in his plastic eyes. "This is not the time to be asking for something as banal as a vase"

"It's not for me, it's for Chrys" Azalea opened the box and looked inside. There were many vases inside, made of blue glass. "This is good. Thanks!"

"Yeah, whatever"

When Azalea was returning outside to tell Chrysanthe about the vases, she found her talking with Matthew. When he saw Azalea, he waved her over. "Good, you're here too. Vittoria wants to talk to all of us"

"What for?"

"I dunno. I'm just the messenger. She wants to meet us at the plaza, so follow me" Matthew started walking towards the Monobear plaza. After Azalea informed Chrysanthe about the vases, the two of them started walking towards the plaza. What could Vittoria want that's so important it needed everyone to listen? Azalea couldn't avoid feeling a heavy lump of dread in the pit of her stomach. Had Monobear pushed for whatever Vittoria was going to say?

She really hoped what was going to be said wasn't as bad as she felt it could be.


	20. Chapter3:No GoodDeed Goes Unpunished III

Vittoria was waiting in front of the Monobear statues, hands clasped behind her back and wind moving her waist-long hair. She watched everyone approach, inexpressive, until everyone was settled in front of her. Once she was sure she got everyone's attention, Vittoria took a deep breath, keeping her poker face while she spoke. "You all are aware Monobear has referenced those criminals as related to me. I have been thinking about the matter, trying to remember if there was any information I could give to any of you...and I have remembered something vital. It is of extreme importance" when Matthew was about to ask her what was it, she raised her hand, silencing him. "Let me announce it before you start asking questions.

First than all, you should know Monobear likely was not lying when he insinuated the criminal organization I was going to inherit has something to do with this. The criminals he mentions...their codenames are not familiar to me. We have a Main Board, however, when one of the members of this Main Board dies or is unable to continue their duty, they are replaced. The Main Board I knew does not seem to exist anymore.

Given our real ages, it is indeed possible these criminals are among us"

"But you don't know who they are?" Matthew pleaded to know, moving his lens upwards to look better at Vittoria.

"I asked you to not interrupt me, Sir McCoy. But you are correct, I do not know them"

"Okay, at least we know you're not one of them! That's a start"

"Sir Matthew, _please_ —"

Runihura hoisted his camera higher onto his shoulder, turning towards Matthew. "Not really. We're trusting on her word here, she could be lying and making a big show here so she isn't a suspect"

"Aren't you being a bit paranoid?" Chrysanthe said, placating. Runihura glanced at the rest of the group with some disdain, except to Chrysanthe.

"...maybe, but I think I earned the right to be a little on edge. You heard what the bear said earlier about that Wolfenmaus guy"

Vittoria sighed, resigned to not being able to talk without interruptions. "As I was saying, I do not know their identities. It is true Sir Acurio is a suspect, but he is no more suspicious than the rest of you. However, there is someone who I believe is very likely to be Valkyrie:

That unknown person, Sigrun Solheim"

Such announcement was nothing they didn't expect. Some had already thought Sigrun was likely to be Valkyrie, but it was true Vittoria outright saying it kind of gave validity to such thought. "Why do you think that?" Kouma asked.

"Because I remember that name being linked to my group's activities. Monobear was not bluffing, she is indeed related to us" she put a finger to her chin, thoughtful "From what I remember, this Sigrun Solheim is a likely candidate to be a member of a Main Board who betrays and causes trouble"

"Yeah, I guess, but who is she?" Joanna inquired, not sounding convinced.

"If I remember right, Sigrun Solheim is what we used to call a 'problem solver'. We gave her missions, and she always fulfilled them. From assassinations, to coercion of persons of interest, to covert infiltration of groups and governments, despite her young age Sigrun was quite the asset. She was not requested only by my group, other unsavory individuals and groups liked to make use of her mercenary services.

In other words, she is _extremely_ dangerous, and I am convinced she would not have any qualms with betraying the group, and that if she so wished, she could kill someone and leave all us to die"

"And you have no idea who she is?" Lucien crossed his arms.

"I never met her. I did not even know her gender until Lady Da Silva informed us Sigrun is a female name"

"So...we still have no information. That's all you got to say?" Dalia said.

"Was that not enough for you?" Vittoria looked at her from over her nose, offended.

"It's nothing we didn't know already!"

"I am truly sorry, but confirming vital information such as Sigrun is relation to my group—"

"But without any better clues that's useless information!" Kamiya shouted, holding his mask against his face with force. Someone told him to shut up, and in no time the group started arguing with each other. Vittoria, unable to get people to calm down, sighed and grabbed strands of her hair, looking on the verge of pulling from them. Only when Elaine raised her voice, looking furious, everyone started to calm down.

"You all are a bunch of _morons_! Vittoria went out of her way to confirm this for us, and you treat it as if she did nothing! Where's your gratitude?!" There was silence for a moment before Thioro broke it.

"It'd be better if she had remembered anything to narrow down the suspects"

"I once again declare I am sorry I can not be of further help" Vittoria said.

"Why don't we grill the admins for information? If there's someone who knows anything it's them. Let's go tomorrow and make them answer a few things"

"That's not a bad idea. Let's think questions tonight and agree tomorrow what we'll ask" Kamiya added, and for once during the recent times, nobody told him to shut up.

Thioro nodded, not caring the suggestion came from Kamiya. "That's a good idea. I think I'm close to finding out the identity of this Sigrun woman, but some more information would be good"

"You know who it could be?" Joanna looked skeptical.

"I have narrowed it down to one person, if that's what you want to know" then he hurried to add "But I'm not saying who until I know for sure if I'm right"

"Saying that is a guaranteed way to get yourself killed, you know"

"I'm not scared. If Sigrun wants to attack me then I dare her to do it" Thioro smiled cockily "That's not going to stop her from getting caught, I can guarantee it"

"Why don't you say it now? You are—you're placing yourself in danger. Don't be stupid, Meziane" Kouma pressed, but Thioro turned his head away dismissively.

"I know what I'm doing. I'm the detective here, trust me on this" and to avoid other Hostages nagging at him, Thioro turned around and left. Not even once he looked back. For a moment the rest of the Hostages stayed silent, looking at each other with apprehension.

"...do you guys believe he's telling the truth?" Lucien inquired. Vittoria sighed, walking towards him.

"I believe he would not put himself in such danger if he did not know who is Solheim. I just hope he will see fit to reveal it before any deaths happen"

"That's true. Among all of us, Sigrun's the one with the most to lose"

Azalea thought for a moment. "And if she kills, Thioro will reveal her identity. I don't see a way Sigrun can get away with it"

"All we can do for now is believe in Sir Meziane. Let us go back to our cottages. Thank you for coming here" Vittoria bowed her head and left the plaza. Most of the other Hostages went in different directions. Azalea was about to walk to her cottage when Kouma approached her, mumbling.

"What a nightmare, right? It's—it's not the kind of way I'd like to spend my days"

"You'll have to talk with the admins about that" Azalea said a bit coldly. She didn't feel like socializing, but the tone and behavior flew way over Kouma's head. She looked Azalea up and down, evaluating her.

"When I feel antsy I run, but I don't feel safe doing it alone anymore – so come with me. You look like you could hold my pace"

"Against a _marathoner_?"

"Marathons are more about endurance than about speed. I just—I just want some company. You wouldn't leave me running alone, right?" Kouma looked at the ground "I hate to admit it, but I really don't want to be alone. Please.. _.please_ run with me"

For a moment Azalea thought about refusing, but there was something about Kouma's pleading that made her agree. As soon as Azalea said that, Kouma grinned and grabbed Azalea by the arm, starting to take her towards the Stadium. Her grip was rather strong, almost in excess. Azalea, uncomfortable, tried to pry herself away. "Let me go!" she demanded after pulling from her arm wasn't enough. Kouma turned her head around, stopping and looking aghast.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's a bad habit. I keep forgetting nobody likes being grabbed like that" she looked down bashfully "Ten years trying to change that – but bad habits are rooted deep, you know?"

Azalea rubbed her sore arm. "Why are you used to being so rough?"

"I dunno. That's just how I have been – with my brothers and all" she tilted her head "Didn't you know? I have seven older brothers. I'm the baby sister – the youngest one"

" _Seven_ brothers?" That was hard to imagine.

"Yes, exactly. Everyone in the same house. We used to horse around a lot, I guess I got used to just...grappling people like that" she looked at Azalea's arm, wondering if underneath the sleeve there was a bruise "Does it—does it hurt?"

 _Like you put it in a vice._ "Not really"

Judging by Kouma's reluctant expression, she didn't believe that. She approached and requested to see the bruise. After a moment Azalea agreed, feeling that Kouma wanted to make amends. When the marathoner saw the bruise she cringed, hiding her hands as if she feared she would make another bruise. "I'll compensate you for this. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean—that looks really bad. Seriously, I'm sorry"

Azalea tried to make it look less painful than it was. "Weren't we going to jog?"

"Oh. Right, right! Let's just...go ahead" she feigned cheer, starting ahead. It seemed having caused that damage to Azalea gave her great guilt, yet had no idea how to apologize for her mistake. The time Azalea spent with Kouma was rather awkward, spent mostly in silence. The only time Kouma talked was at the end. "That was a good run! Thanks for coming with me, Azalea"

"Yeah, it was nothing" Azalea said not too enthusiastically.

"Can we do it again someday? There's...there's a lot I'd like to tell you. I think you're the only one who'd listen"

There was something flattering about being told that. Azalea didn't know Kouma that well, but maybe that could change in the future. She deserved a chance, an opportunity to know her. That was why Azalea nodded, smiling softly. "I'd like that"

 _Kouma and I spent time together._

-ooooo-

The night fell on Heavenly Resort. Azalea watched from the window of her cabin, the sky outside was full of stars. The rest of the Hostages were returning to their cottages, not bothering to say goodnight to each other. Azalea couldn't blame them, nobody felt like socializing. The atmosphere was tense, dreadful. Would everyone be alive the next morning? Monobear wanted to make the mutual killing game go faster, could someone die not even 36 hours after Aleksey's death? Azalea wanted to think that wouldn't be possible, but after two cases and trials... _maybe what I should be wondering is who will be the victim._

There was nobody standing out as an obvious victim. Well, that wasn't true. There was a chance someone would try to attack Runihura or Vittoria. Monobear had all but directly said they were two of the criminals they were looking for. Would someone kill them as an attempt to get out of the virtual world faster? If one of the criminals was murdered, would there be a trial? And if there was a trial and they didn't catch the culprit, would the kidnappers execute everyone but the killer? There was something off about everything, yet Azalea wasn't sure what exactly it was...

"I hope I'm overthinking it" Azalea said to herself, closing the window and making sure it was locked. The door was barricaded too. It wasn't that she was afraid of what could happen, but...it never hurt to be cautious. Azalea laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. She felt full of energy, like she could go and give a few laps to the Heavenly Resort right now. _Maybe it wouldn't be bad to go take a stroll outside..._ she looked at the clock on the wall. It said 11:08 PM. Time had passed quite fast; it had been about an hour since everybody retired to their cottages.

Putting on her cardigan, Azalea went to the window and opened it to take a look outside. There were no noises outside, the night was calm. It was almost deceptive how everything looked so nice and serene. She was about to step away from the window when she saw something in the distance. _What's..._ Azalea put her hands on the windowsill and leaned forward, trying to distinguish what was going on.

It was three silhouettes, three people. It was so dark Azalea couldn't distinguish height or size, but she could at least calculate where they were. They were walking on the stone paths of the cottage section. Were they...carrying something? She couldn't see what it was, but they had something in their hands. Something large and amorphous. The third silhouette was a bit behind them. They were too far away for Azalea to hear what they were saying.

 _Wait, no_...there was something else with them...something was moving in front of them. A short person? Monobear?

Whatever was going on outside was unusual, that much was obvious to Azalea. Going to check – and being careful, of course – seemed like the right thing to do. With Monobear's recent revelation still hanging in the air, groups in the middle of the night were a suspicious thing. After making sure to take off her shoes, just in case, Azalea went to her door and extended her hand to grab the doorknob. The moment she did that, a sudden pain shot through her head. Whimpering, Azalea fell to her knee, holding her head. She didn't even touch the metal of the doorknob! "What's going...on...?" she tried to stand up, but it was as if a sudden dizziness had overcome her.

Trying to keep herself focused, Azalea managed to stand up, everything seemed to be spinning around her. Her mouth tasted like metal. She again stepped forward to move towards the door, but in a second her sight changed. For a moment all she could see were numbers, green numbers on a black background, changing and moving. That lasted only for a second before her sight returned to normal. For a moment she swayed, fighting to stay awake.

She failed.

Slowly, she started falling back, her arms spreading wide apart until she was in a T position. When she fell onto the floor she made absolutely no sound. If someone had been watching her, they'd see her lying on the floor, rigid like a wooden board, and then in a blink she'd be on her bed, sleeping as if nothing had happened – literally transported onto her bed in milliseconds.

When she woke up, she remembered nothing.

-ooooo-

Azalea yawned, getting off her bed. The day was shining bright outside, the birds were singing...it was once another sunny day in Heavenly Resort. When she entered her bathroom, she noticed she was wearing her cardigan. "...I thought I had taken this thing off last night" she commented, frowning at how wrinkled it was.

Once she was ready to face the day, she opened the door of her cottage and stepped onto her porch, taking a deep breath. First things first: get breakfast and make sure everyone was okay. She opened the door and found something that hadn't been there when she had gone to sleep: a vase with a bouquet of flowers inside. She recognized the vase, it was one of the vases the admins had in that box. Azalea grabbed the vase, looking at the flowers. It was a bouquet of azaleas. Despite the oddness of finding a bunch of flowers in front of her door, Azalea smiled, pleased by her sister's gift. "Thanks, Chrys" Who else would have taken the time to do that if not the one talented gardener in the area? When she took the vase inside, she noticed a small card in middle of the flowers. Plucking it out of the bouquet, she read the short sentences written on it:

 _Don't worry about me. I'll be okay._

 _-Chrysanthe_

Intending to thank Chrysanthe once she saw her, Azalea again went outside. She had barely gotten off her porch and onto the thin stone road that let from her cottage to the main road of the resort when she saw a group of Hostages, gathered not too far away from the road. "Hello?" she hesitantly greeted. It was unusual of them to reunite like that in middle of the cottage area.

Kamiya was the first one to turn around, his expression hidden behind his gas mask. "Azalea, want some breakfast?"

"Well, yeah, but what are you all doing here?"

The pharmacist glanced at the rest of the group. For a moment he looked unsure of what to do, but this was something she needed to know about. He talked to her, sounding concerned. After his behavior in the second trial she didn't want him anywhere near her, but what he said stopped her in her tracks:

" _You_ need to see this"

"What are you doing?!" Lucien approached before Azalea could even step towards the rest of the group "Stop trying to cause trouble, you asshole!" he said with clenched teeth. Kamiya didn't seem worried at all, though, he just shrugged.

"She's going to find out sooner or later. It's better it happens now"

Lucien crossed his arms and appraised Azalea. For a moment doubt crossed his face, but he concealed it pretty quickly. "Fine. But if anything happens I'm holding you responsible for it"

"What...? What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Go see by yourself"

Starting to feel a heavy sensation of dread, Azalea hurried to the group. Before anyone could react, she pushed them aside, seeing what they had been gathered around.

It wasn't just one body. There were two. A large body, clad in green clothes, with around a dozen bleeding holes on his back. Some of the holes still had wooden sticks embedded into them. Arrows. Two of the arrows were intact. There was no doubt that person was dead, how could you survive so many long arrows stabbed onto your back?

And underneath that corpse...the other person was someone she knew very well. Someone she had grown with. Her face was inexpressive; her arms were wide open to the sides. Azalea didn't pay much attention to the details, she was too busy looking at the face of her dead sister. Her face was bluish, hinting lack of oxygen before her death. Azalea didn't care about that, though.

All she wanted was for Chrysanthe to not be lying dead on the path in the cottage section.

 _...you just said you'd be okay...you just told me you'd be fine...then why...why are you...?_

 **Runihura Acurio is dead.**

 **Chrysanthe Stravopoulos is dead.**


	21. Chapter3:No Good Deed Goes Unpunished IV

It took a long while for Azalea to realize she had been staring at Chrysanthe for a while. She had lost her sister, she had also lost a friend, both had been horribly murdered and laid there in middle of the cottages area...it felt like the floor was crumbling beneath her feet, like the sky had suddenly opened and she had been told she'd die in a minute. She couldn't hear anything for a while, just staring with her mouth open, trying to understand what she was seeing.

"Azalea? Are you okay?" Dalia approached, gently trying to lead Azalea away from the body.

"She has been staring blankly for ten minutes already" Thioro commented, crouching beside Runihura's body and patting him down. When she heard that, Azalea closed her mouth and fidgeted.

"I, uh, I...what? What did...?"

"She's shocked. I can't blame her...this must be horrible for her" Dalia said pityingly.

The motivator looked around, having noticed most of the Hostages had dispersed. Thioro was already doing his job as a detective, examining the corpses. For a moment Azalea wanted to yell at him to leave Chrysanthe's body alone, but she refrained from doing so. He'd do better than her, he'd find any clues she wouldn't notice. Azalea inhaled shakily, trembling. "I-I'm okay..."

"No you're not. Look at yourself, you look ashen"

Something about that statement got her upset. Azalea pulled herself away from Dalia, with tears in her eyes. "Of course I'm—that's my sister right there! And Runihura! They're _dead_!"

"Azalea—"

"Some bastard killed them! What did they do wrong?! This is _not fair_! Why'd anyone kill them?!" she raised her voice even more, sounding hoarse.

Thioro didn't look up from his work. His voice sounded sympathetic, but he didn't have time to console Azalea. "You're making a scene, Azalea. Please stop"

"Stop?! _That's my sister_!"

"If you keep doing that the killer will get away" he finally looked up "You have to focus on investigating"

"Aren't you being a bit too dismissive, Thioro?" Dalia tried to intervene, but Thioro shrugged.

"I'm not being dismissive, it's the truth. If she doesn't investigate all that'll happen is that the killer will have more chances of getting away with this. We'll all die, including her" he said, his tone softening the bluntness of his words. Dalia opened her mouth to chide him further, but Azalea stopped her, putting her hand on Dalia's shoulder. Azalea took a shaking deep breath, trying not to break down crying now that she was starting to understand that two people she greatly esteemed were now dead.

"He's right. I need to focus...for Chrysanthe and Runihura's sake" she looked grimly at the corpses "I...I feel bad for Runihura. Chrysanthe was much more important to me than he'd ever be, but he deserves to be mourned too"

"We can mourn for them once this is all over" Dalia said.

"Yeah...we will. Give me a moment" Azalea dried away her tears, taking deep breaths and trying to make her mind blank. She didn't have time to think about Chrysanthe, about stuff she wished she had said to her. There were deaths to investigate. And once she found who had killed her...

...she'd tell them exactly what they deserved, at the very least. She had to convince herself not to resolve to strangle the killer in middle of the trial. _I'm not going to kill them. I'm not—I won't fall as low as they did_.

"O-Okay, I'm ready" Azalea said in a tone that showed she wasn't ready at all. Thioro looked at her with pity for a second before focusing back in his job.

"I'm going to be respectful with her body, Azalea, I promise you that"

"Thanks..." it was kind of a relief to hear that. It wasn't that she had ever thought Thioro would disrespect her sister's corpse, but having the assurance was nice.

Dalia, relieved to see Azalea was prepared now, approached her, holding out the Monobear file. "Nice to see you back! Here, this is the file. Monobear was...he said to give it to you once you were done being shellshocked" she made a face, somewhat disgusted at how dismissive Monobear had been.

"He was weirdly considerate. It's strange" Thioro lifted Chrysanthe's hand "The person who controls him can be rather kind, for a kidnapper. I thought someone who made us kill each other would give no fucks about how we feel"

"You know, you're right about that" It was odd, but it wasn't like they could go and ask him why he was kinder sometimes. Trying to focus on the case at hand, she took the Monobear File and read the info inside:

 **Monobear File #3**

 _Victim: Runihura Acurio_

 _Time of Death: 11:29 PM_

 _Cause of Death: Extensive damage to internal organs due to arrows._

 _Location of the Body: Cottage Area_

 _Victim: Chrysanthe Stravopoulos_

 _Time of Death: 11: 34 PM_

 _Cause of Death: Oxygen deprivation caused by anaphylaxis_

 _Location of the Body: Cottage Area_

 _Notes: The anaphylaxis symptoms were fulminating, killing her in just **five minutes** after exposure to the allergen._

"Five minutes! Then that means she got exposed to her allergy at the same time Runihura died?"

"What's she allergic to?" Dalia asked.

"Lemons. I think it's some kind of acid in them? I don't really know for sure why she's allergic to them"

Dalia looked around, examining the grass and the stone path. "I don't see any lemons anywhere"

"It doesn't have to be lemons, anything that has lemons as ingredient would be very bad for her"

"Let's forget about that. Wait, let me think, let me think...if she touched lemons when Runihura was killed, then...maybe the arrows have lemon in them?"

Something about Dalia's theorizing hit a nerve in Azalea. She crossed her arms, glaring at Dalia. "What are you insinuating?"

"I was saying—"

"You think the arrows have lemon? That she's the one who killed Runihura with them and that's how she touched lemon? Is that it?!"

"What are you screeching about?" Dalia had paled, her dark skin acquiring a nasty burgundy color. Thioro whistled, getting Azalea's attention.

"Azalea, you're jumping to conclusions. Nothing Dalia said means that's what she thinks. In fact, these arrows don't have lemon on them" he flicked one of the arrows with his fingers "I don't think anyone cleaned them, so you can be sure there was never lemon on them"

"Right. I...um, I'm sorry for shouting at you, Dalia. I'm really stressed right now" she said. Dalia didn't reply, just staring at Azalea with wariness. _I must have looked like some kind of madwoman, geez..._

 **Arrows**

 _The weapons used to kill Runihura. Only a few arrows are still intact. Others are broken, others are missing from the body._

"I didn't see any arrows around here. The killer took those arrows with them?" Dalia wondered.

"But why'd the killer do that? I mean, look at all these arrows left inside the body, why were these left here?"

"It could be the culprit didn't have any other option other than take some of the arrows with them" Azalea suggested. Thioro looked at her with skepticism for a moment before his expression softened, nodding.

"That could be it. Nice suggestion!"

"I don't think it was that good of a suggestion..."

The detective let go of Runihura's wrist and moved the body off Chrysanthe for a better examination. When he was carefully putting the large corpse's feet down on the floor, he noticed something odd. "Well this is...!"

"What? What did you find?" Azalea asked, approaching him. Thioro tilted his head, curious, and scratched with a fingernail the sole of one of Runihura's shoes, effortlessly peeling off what caught his attention.

"It's dry paint. Look" he showed the flakes of dried paint, blue paint "It's not like he painted the sole of his shoe or anything, it's more like...how to explain it..."

"Like he stepped on dry paint?" Dalia suggested.

"Exactly!"

"So Runihura walked over a place that had a lot of dry paint on the ground?" Azalea examined the dry paint flakes. There weren't that many, just enough to be noticeable.

"Well I don't know if this is important or not, but it's on the body so..." _So you thought it'd be good to point it out._ Azalea wasn't sure what the dry paint had to do with the murders, but just in case she committed it to memory.

 **Dry Paint**

 _One of Runihura's shoes had flakes of dry blue paint sticking to the sole._

Dalia grabbed Runihura's cap off the ground, examining it. "Hey, you checked his pockets yet? I think that's something you need to do"

"I was about to. Let's see..." Thioro put a hand in Runihura's jacket pocket, something metallic jangling inside. "He does have something in here. It could be his key" he took the objects out. He wasn't wrong, but at the same time this wasn't what he had expected. "Okay, this is not normal"

"Why did Runihura have _four_ keys with him?"

Indeed, Runihura had four keys, keys to cottages. Thioro soon found a fifth key in the pocket of Runihura's pants. "Okay, I think I get it: this lone key is the key to his cottage"

"Then who do the other four keys belong to?"

"...I don't know yet. Chrysanthe has her key, so he doesn't have hers" he looked in direction of the communal building "I bet the admins know who these keys belong to, but I doubt they'll tell us" _So we're going to have to find out by ourselves? Jeez, what a pain..._

 **Four Keys**

 _Four different keys Runihura had in his pocket. Those are keys to cottages. Presumably, none of the keys is for Runihura or Chrysanthe's cottages._

"Something odd is going on here...but I'm not sure how the keys and his death are connected. We're going to have to keep looking" Thioro said, moving to Chrysanthe's corpse. Before he could start, Dalia, who had been staring at the stones of the pathway, piped up.

"Ummmm...isn't it a bit weird?"

"What's weird?"

"Look, he got all those arrows on him. That'd make him bleed a lot, right?"

"I suppose so. Look how the blood is leaking from his back"

"Then why's there so little blood here?" _...she's right!_ There was some blood pooled underneath Runihura, but it seemed to be too little, despite the many wounds Runihura had on his back.

 **Lack of Blood**

 _There seemed to be a lack of blood underneath Runihura, or near him._

Thioro started examining Chrysanthe "You're right, Dalia. I don't know how significant the lack of blood is, but it's something worth noting. And now let's see what Azalea's sister has to say..." slowly, Azalea approached him, watching him work. There was something deeply disturbing about watching him deal with Chrysanthe's corpse, even though he was being quite considerate and careful. "I'm sorry for having to examine your sister. I never thought I'd have to" he admitted.

"I-It's okay" It really wasn't "The Monobear file says she died because of an allergic reaction...is that true?"

"I can't be certain if it's true or not, but everything does point she died from suffocation. Her bluish skin...that's a cyanotic reaction. It could have been caused by anaphylaxis. Besides..." he raised Chrysanthe's left hand "Look at her palm and fingers" Azalea looked closer at the area indicated, covering her mouth with horror when she realized what it was.

"That's...a rash..."

"Exactly. An allergic reaction, I think. You say she was allergic to lemons?" he asked, and Azalea nodded "That fits. Smell her hand, it smells like it has traces of lemons" He was right. That was likely to have caused the allergic reaction.

 **Allergy Rash**

 _Chrysanthe's left hand has a red, sickly rash. Her palm and fingers smell faintly of lemons._

Azalea felt someone poking her between her shoulders, when she looked back she found Dalia, having tried to get her attention. "Sorry, would Chrysanthe grab lemons even if she could die?"

"Of course not!"

"Then how did the lemon get to her hand?" _That's a good question_... Azalea turned towards Thioro, going to ask him, but he had listened to what Dalia had said. He grabbed something from between Chrysanthe's hands, holding it high in the air.

"Girls, look at this" Dalia approached first, bending over to take a better look.

"Oh, that's a thorn!"

 **Thorn**

 _There was a thorn incrusted between Chrysanthe's fingers_

"Can you tell from what plant it is from?" Thioro asked to Dalia. In response, she shook her head.

"I think it'd be impossible to know. So many plants have thorns, you can't tell from which one that thorn comes from. But Chrysanthe was a gardener, it may be from one of the plants she grew at the Garden"

Azalea looked in direction of the Garden. She didn't know much about plants, but she was aware many of the plants Chrysanthe worked with had thorns. It was indeed possible the thorn had come from one of them. "But it's impossible Chrysanthe would touch lemons..."

Dalia snapped her fingers several times, having remembered something. "Wait! I just remembered, from the first trial, there was something in the garden shed that had lemons in it. Wasn't there a flower preserver that smelled like lemons?" her voice got a bit faster "And since she's a gardener, she could come in contact with that!"

"I'm telling you that's impossible! Chrys wasn't so careless she'd put herself in danger!"

"But it's related to plants, to lemons and to gardeners, it could have something to do with the murder, right? What if the killer used flower preserver to murder her?"

Azalea opened her mouth to refute that, but the possibility was there. She couldn't simply reject that the killer had used that, having remembered the flower preserver from the first trial, and managed to get Chrysanthe to touch it, killing her. _...it could be possible..._

 **Flower Preserver**

 _A lemon-scented flower preserver from the garden shed. Spray-on._

"If you two are done talking about that, I noticed something" Thioro looked up "There are traces of something lemony on Runihura's coat. Taking that in account...yes, I assert that Chrysanthe died because she touched lemons – or something with lemons – from Runihura's coat!"

"I guess, yeah?" Azalea frowned "But where on the coat was that?"

Thioro pointed at the underside of Runihura's right armpit. "It was only here"

"So you think the killer put lemons in Runihura's armpit and Chrysanthe touched him there and that's how she died?"

The detective shrugged. "I'm just saying the conclusion I reached"

"No offense, but it doesn't make much sense" Dalia commented.

"Then what do you suggest happened?"

Dalia looked away. "I dunno, I dunno. How do you expect me to know?" There was no satisfactory explanation for that. Having reached a dead end, the three of them stopped, going back to the investigation of the bodies. "Anything else? Like a note with the killer's name or anything?"

"Not really...I did find something but I'm not sure how significant it is" Thioro raised Chrysanthe's wrist "Somebody injected something into Chrysanthe"

"Again with the injections? Those had nothing to do with the other deaths, why'd it be important now?" Dalia said, Azalea frowned. She was right, in Alistair and Aleksey's murders that injection wound hadn't affected the murders at all. Still, the thought that Chrysanthe had one of those too...it was a bit unnerving.

"And I bet Runihura has one too"

"Actually, Runihura doesn't have an injection mark anywhere"

Azalea sputtered. "A-Are you sure? Completely sure?!" _Well that's new!_

"I'm positive, Azalea. I checked everywhere. His wrists, his neck, his buttocks—"

"You stared at his dead and bare ass?!" Dalia interrupted, looking like she didn't know if she should laugh or not.

"I have heard one's meaty posterior is a good place to apply injections, and as I said, there's nothing there! So I'm pretty sure he was never injected anything" If the injections were what all victims so far had in common, then it really was weird Runihura had none on him. _What's that supposed to mean?_

 **Injection Wound**

 _Chrysanthe has an injection mark on her right wrist. Runihura doesn't have an injection mark anywhere._

All that talk about flowers and flower preserver had Azalea distracted. While Dalia and Thioro continued discussing the lack of injection mark on Runihura, she walked away, having remembered something important and unusual. She walked back to her cottage, unlocking the door and entering. There, on a small table, was the vase Chrysanthe had left for her. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that thorns, flowers and preservers were involved and this vase of flowers had been left to her. Azalea grabbed the vase and sat on the bed, intending to examine the bouquet with attention.

There wasn't not even a single thorn in the bouquet of azaleas. The stems of those flowers were smooth, frail. Azalea touched the bouquet with her nose and inhaled, stopping for a moment before sneezing a few times. _No lemon nor any preservers..._

 **Vase of Flowers**

 _A bouquet in a blue glass vase, left by Chrysanthe on the porch of Azalea's cabin._

"Just what were you doing last night, Chrys..." Azalea murmured, putting the vase and bouquet back on the table, and while doing that, she saw the small card that had come with the bouquet. _Right, this card..._ Intending to examine it better, Azalea took it, reading the message again and turning it over and over in her fingers. There was nothing strange or unusual about that card besides the fact it existed in the first place.

 **Card**

 _A small card that was included with the flowers for Azalea. Signed by Chrysanthe. It says 'Don't worry about me. I'll be okay'_

"I don't understand...Chrys, why? Why was this necessary?" She had no doubts Chrysanthe was doing something last night, but no matter how much she thought about it, she just couldn't understand what it was. Azalea stared blankly at the card, her thoughts wandering. What if Chrysanthe wanted to go for a walk? What if she was called somewhere? What if she saw something she shouldn't have seen? What if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time? What if...

...what if Chrysanthe had been planning to... _no! Chrys would never try to kill someone! I refuse to believe she would!_ Azalea slammed the card on the table, not noticing she had done so until she felt the ache on her hand. "Agh...that one hurt..." she whispered, taking the card and putting it in the pocket of her cardigan. There was investigation yet to be done, she couldn't stay in her cabin muttering at a card.

When she got back outside, she noticed Thioro and Dalia had already walked away from the bodies. For a moment she felt the impulse of going back to Chrysanthe's corpse, but she refrained from doing so. There were other places to investigate. Deciding to check the garden shed, she walked to the Communal Building, towards the Garden.

It seemed like she wasn't the only one who decided to go to the Garden. Matthew and Kamiya were there too, Kamiya looking around the flower bushes while Matthew observed him, sitting on the fence. When Azalea approached, Matthew waved at her, without smiling. "What's up? Feeling better?"

"No. Not at all"

Matthew made a sympathetic face. "I can't blame you. If you ever need to talk I'd be willing to listen" he sighed "Not that I'm too good at that, Elaine and I were never the type to talk about feelings"

"He's not wrong, you should hear him try to talk to me" Kamiya commented, crawling into the begonias "All that clumsy babbling and his attempts to try to get me to talk...it's ridiculous!"

"Shut up!" Matthew shouted at Kamiya, and turned his attention back to Azalea, in case she had something else to say, but she was looking at the pharmacist dig around between the plants. "I get it; you're wondering what he's doing there"

"Yes...why is he looking into the plants?" Azalea asked.

"He thinks there may be a clue there, all because he found a bouquet of begonias when he woke up"

"Begonias? What do you mean?"

Kamiya crawled out of the begonias, pressing his gas mask against his face. "When I woke up and went to leave my cabin, I found a vase with begonias – and I'm not the only one who received flowers"

"I received a vase too. It was a sunflower. Weird, eh?" Matthew said. Azalea crossed her arms, mulling that. It seemed she wasn't the only one who received flowers. If more people had gotten some...what'd that mean "I guess that's why Chrysanthe asked me about my favorite flower"

"She did that?" Azalea pounced on that tidbit of information as if her life depended on it.

"She asked me too!" Kamiya helpfully informed from beneath the begonias "I told her I like begonias. She never asked you, Azalea?"

"No-No, but she was my sister, she'd know I like azaleas" Was that all Chrysanthe had been planning? To give flowers to people? Was that all she had planned to do?

 **Vase of Flowers (updated)**

 _A bouquet in a blue glass vase, left by Chrysanthe on the porch of Azalea's cabin. Everyone received a vase of flowers, and were asked what their favorite flower is._

"Did you receive something else? Like a message or something?" Azalea inquired. Neither Kamiya nor Matthew had received anything like that, they had only received flowers. Unsure what to think about that but feeling like it wasn't good, Azalea entered the shed to investigate the flower preserver.

The flower preserver bottles in the shed were untouched, dusty. One of them was half-filled, even though it was covered in dust. Azalea took it, examining it all over. There were no more clues on it, nothing that indicated someone had taken the bottle recently. "That's strange..." she said to herself, turning it around to read the label on the bottle. There was nothing particularly worthwhile, but one sentence jumped to her. Just in case, she took note of it.

 **Flower Preserver (updated)**

 _A lemon-scented flower preserver from the garden shed. Spray-on. Can last up to two weeks before needing to be reapplied._

Having encountered another dead end, Azalea left the bottle back where she found it and exited the shed, unsure of where she should go now. In her walk, she returned to the cottage area. She avoided where the bodies were at, instead going around the cabins. That's where she found Elaine, sitting on the porch of one of the cabins and drawing on a piece of paper. When she noticed someone was staring at her, Elaine raised her eyes, adjusting her glasses. "Azalea...how are you feeling? Do you feel ready for the trial?"

Azalea olympically ignored her question. "What are you working on? A map like the one you made for the first trial?"

"Yes, that's it. I thought we should keep in mind the location of the cabins, the bodies and other evidence. There's stuff to find, after all"

"You mean you already found something"

Elaine nodded. "Of course I did. Want to take a look? I suppose you'd want to catch the killer yourself..."

"I'd like nothing better" Azalea muttered a bit darkly.

Elaine ignored that, choosing to help. She beckoned Azalea to follow her, guiding her towards one of the four round areas. The cottage area was divided in four cul-de-sacs, each one with four cottages. At the point where the cul-de-sac linked to the main stone path, Elaine stopped, pointing at the stone tiles. "Behold!"

"Is that...blood?"

There were traces of blood on the tiles. It wasn't a large amount, just a few drops, but it all seemed like something had been dragged over the blood. The blood was so little and faint it was a bit amazing Elaine had managed to find it. "It is blood, yes. This isn't the only blood I found. There are more droplets over there..." she pointed at a spot just a few feet away "...and it all kept going to the center of that cul-de-sac"

"Wait, let me see something" Azalea tried to see where the corpses were located. The bodies were around sixty feet away from where they were standing right now. _That's not too far away..._ It was entirely possible this blood was Runihura's.

 **Traces of Blood**

 _There are traces of dry blood on the stone path from one of the cul-de-sac. Seems like something was dragged over the blood. Most likely to belong to Runihura._

"Okay, I see. So the real scene of the crime may be the center of that cul-de-sac?" Azalea inquired.

"It's a possibility, but I think there's too little blood here for that to be true. All those arrows would make anyone bleed" Elaine threw her head back "The flow of the blood down the skin of a person, mired in tragedy...it truly is perfect for drama. I shall write something like that in my next work"

Azalea turned her head towards the cottages. "Good for you. So who's sleeping in those cottages?"

"If I remember correctly..." Elaine pointed from left to right "That's Aleksey's, my cottage, Alistair's, and Matthew's"

"Neither of you saw or heard anything?"

"No...I don't know anything about this murder, and Matthew didn't sleep in his cottage. He has to keep an eye on Kamiya, so he slept in Kamiya's cottage" _So no witnesses at all...that's unfortunate._

"At least we can be sure the murder happened over there, right?"

Elaine crossed her arms. "I think so? I did find something bloodied and out of place. Since I'm the only one sleeping in that whole cul-de-sac, only I could have seen it. Look, it's over there" Elaine guided Azalea to the area closer to Alistair and her cottage. Lying there, on the floor, was a large wooden board, covered with a lot of blood. Several broken rods were standing from the board, only a couple were still intact.

"Those are arrows!" And from the look of all the blood staining the metallic tip of the intact arrows, there was no doubt these were the crime weapon. "But why were there so many arrows set on this board?"

"That I don't know" Elaine admitted "It's an odd weapon"

 **Wooden Board**

 _A square board covered in blood. Many arrows, some of them broken and others intact, were inserted into it, the pointy tip of the arrows aiming upwards_

"So the killer stuck a lot of arrows into this board, grabbed it and hit Runihura on the back with it?" Azalea wondered "That can't have been easy...there's something off about that" Something didn't seem right, yet Azalea couldn't pinpoint exactly what. What was she missing?

Elaine took out her map, still unfinished. "I'll finish this map and pass it to you once it's done. Between you and me, Azalea..." she approached, lowering her voice "I feel bad for what happened to your sister. I tell you this as someone who has a sibling I love very much: let me help you as much as I can"

Her tone sounded sincere, but Azalea couldn't bring herself to embrace her cooperation. After all, Elaine was the only Hostage in the vicinity when the murder occurred. It'd be natural for her to be a suspect in the murder of Runihura and Chrysanthe. Azalea couldn't simply think Elaine was innocent. She didn't think the writer had committed the murders, but...it was something she couldn't rule out yet. "Thanks, Elaine"

Elaine smiled, almost sweetly. "Of course. What are friends for if not to support each other at times like these?"

"F-Friends?"

"We're friends, aren't we?"

 _Yes. We are friends._ A pang of guilt hit Azalea, there she was, suspecting a friend! She promised herself she wouldn't suspect someone until the trial. Better not to form any potentially wrong conclusions before the investigation was over. When she was about to say something else to Elaine, someone opened the door to Aleksey's cottage. They turned and saw Thioro exit the cottage, looking disappointed. "Thioro?" The detective looked up, he seemed puzzled.

"Hi"

"How did you get in there?"

"The admins let me in. I was wondering if our dead comrades got flowers, since all of us got a vase of flowers"

"Oh, that's right, I received peonies" Elaine piped up.

"Most likely. I'm pretty sure Runihura also had something to do with all these flowers and vases, though..." Thioro looked up at the sky, mulling something "Those two got killed together, they must have been doing something together"

"Did they give flowers to the deceased?"

"They did, but not in a vase. Looks like for the dead ones they made wreaths"

"You mean like a Christmas wreath?" Azalea frowned. The wreath was inside the cabin? So Runihura and Chrysanthe had been able to enter the deceased's cottages...

"Something like that. It's a funerary rite in many cultures, making wreaths to place at the graves of those who are dead. They even hung it on the wall...Runihura and Chrysanthe were good people. Frankly I'll miss them"

 **Wreath**

 _The dead Hostages received flowers in the form of wreaths. These wreaths were placed inside the cottages._

"So now what?" Azalea wondered. Thioro adjusted his tie, making it even looser than it already was, and shrugged.

"I don't know...okay, no, there's something we could do. Runihura was killed with arrows. How about we look where those came from?"

Elaine seemed a bit annoyed by his momentary indecision. "The other day I found arrows at the stadium. Take a look there, detective"

Thioro raised a finger, looking pleased with himself as if he was the one who had the idea. "Yes, that's what I'll do! You coming?" Elaine pointed at Azalea with her thumb "Guess not. You're coming, Azalea. Four eyes will do a better job than just two" After Elaine promised she'd give Azalea a copy of the map before the trial started, the motivator followed Thioro to the Stadium.

The Stadium looked like usual, no hints anything abnormal had happened there. Finding the arrows wasn't going to be difficult at all – because they were being used right in that moment. Joanna was there, aiming at the targets and firing bullseyes with astonishing speed. She seemed greatly stressed, fumbling with the strings of the bows yet having good aim. Her gloves were getting in the way but she didn't take them off at all. "Speak of the devil, the arrows are right there" Thioro murmured, approaching. Joanna noticed him, so she stopped.

"...don't look at me like that. We can't all be detectives. I think I do better at debating than at investigations" Joanna said.

"Have you heard what killed Runihura?" he asked. Joanna shook her head, saying she hadn't even seen the bodies. _She wasn't there...?_ Azalea couldn't remember who was there when the bodies were found. She had been so shocked she hadn't even heard the body announcement, of course she wouldn't notice who was there and who wasn't. "He got shot with many arrows"

Joanna dropped the bow. "Don't you dare to say I had anything to do with it"

"I'm not saying that, but...we're all suspects. Some more than others, but yeah" Thioro didn't seem judgmental, at least "Have you noticed anything odd about the arrows or the bows?"

She guided them to where the archery equipment was stored. At first sight it did seem like nothing was off, but it wasn't like Azalea knew about it. They had to rely on what Joanna knew. She pointed at an empty quiver. "See that quiver over there? It should be full of arrows, but when I got here there were none. I thought someone had used them, but I didn't think it was to kill Runihura!"

 **Empty Quiver**

 _One of the quivers at the Stadium was found empty._

Thioro stared at the quiver, unsure. "This was unusual yet you didn't think it was related to the investigation? Even if you didn't know what killed Runihura this is odd enough to remember"

"I didn't say it was strange, it's just that—well..." Joanna brushed hair away from her face "...those arrows went missing long ago"

"How long ago?"

"I remember the quiver was empty the afternoon Alistair died. You see why I thought it didn't have anything to do with these murders? That was long ago" She had a point there. Did that mean the killer had planned to kill since back then? And spent all those days planning or preparing the murder? _That sounds extremely important!_

 **Joanna's Testimony**

 _The empty quiver has been empty since before the first victim died._

Thioro was going to ask something else when Monobear's voice came from the speakers. "Um...so, I got tired of watching you guys walk around aimlessly, so I say we start this trial. You're all going to die today, guys! My bear senses tell me so!" _What's that supposed to mean?_

"...looks like we ran out of time" Joanna said, not sounding upset at all. "I don't have anything else to tell you, so I'll get going" she bowed a bit and left the Stadium, going to the train station. Thioro stared at Joanna for a moment.

"Joanna carries that violin with her all the time, doesn't she?"

"Yes. What about it?" Azalea replied.

"That reminds me of something Runihura did. He had something he had all the time, that videocamera of his"

Azalea tried to remember. Now that she thought about it, Runihura did have a heavy videocamera hanging from his shoulder most of the time. "You think there's something recorded in it?"

"No. Now that I think about it, did the corpse have that videocamera with it?"

Azalea thought back to the moment she saw the body. "No, it didn't. Wait, where's that camera now?" Thioro shrugged. They had never seen such object during their investigation "Did the killer take it?"

"Maybe. We don't have time to search, anyway, so let's go to the trial. We'll discuss it further then"

Their conversation wasn't long, yet when they arrived to the train station everyone else was gathered there, waiting for Azalea and Thioro to arrive. The moment they were seen, Elaine approached, slamming a large piece of paper against Azalea. "How dare you make us wait for so long!"

"We didn't take that long. What's this?" Azalea took the paper and extended it. It was the map Elaine had promised her.

 **Map of the Cottage Area**

 _A map depicting where the location of the bodies, the wooden board and the blood. The cottages around the cul-de-sac some blood and the board were found in belong to Aleksey, Elaine, Alistair and Matthew. The board was between Elaine and Alistair's cabins. The bodies were on the path outside of the cul-de-sac._

"This is good! Thanks, Elaine!"

"Of course. Now let's get in there and find the culprit. I promise you I will try to help as much as possible" Still a bit annoyed at having been made to wait, Elaine boarded the train while Azalea put the map aside.

It was time. They had to find the culprit of two murders...or could there be two different culprits? That was a possibility too, that two people had cooperated to kill two victims. _...do we have all the evidence we need? I feel like we missed something vital._ But no matter how much Azalea thought about it on the way to the courtroom, she couldn't imagine what exactly they may have missed.

It didn't matter now. It was too late to investigate. It was true they'd have a chance to ask Spots and Stripes to investigate one place for them, but that was a chance they couldn't waste. All in all, the trial was what'd reveal all the answers now.

 _...I hope so. For Chrys, for Runihura...I'll find their killer._


	22. Chapter3: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished V

There were ten Hostages left. Once the trial was over there'd be nine, Azalea thought. While Monobear was reciting his usual spiel, her hands twitched. She didn't want to be there, she wanted to go and mourn Chrysanthe properly, but that had to be left for later. For now she had to find who had killed her friend and her sister.

"Okay, we have two victims, so...we could focus first on one and then on the other?" Azalea suggested, not very sure how to proceed. Was one victim more important than the other?

"I think we can work with both at once. They died at the same time, it's not like they're separate incidents" Kamiya stated, earning a few glares from other Hostages. Everyone would have preferred him to shut up. Nobody had a different suggestion, though.

"I have been wondering for a while how you can kill them in such different ways almost at the same time. Did Lady Chrysanthe have any other wounds?" Vittoria wondered.

Thioro shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure she died because of her allergy"

"Since we don't know where to start, then I—I will start" Kouma cracked her knuckles, looking straight at Kamiya "Kamiya already showed he's willing to kill. What if he's the killer?"

"So you suspect Kamiya of killing both of them?"

"I think it may be worth it to confirm or refute if he had anything to do with this crime. Otherwise, we may be at risk of suspecting him no matter what" Vittoria said "Is there any proof he is _not_ the killer?" _There is proof, but I'm not sure it's definite proof. That doesn't matter, I guess, I'll have to point it out anyway!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Map of the Cottages Area / Dried Paint / Thorn / Monobear File #3 / Lack of Blood_

* * *

LUCIEN: I hate Kamiya as much as the next guy...

LUCIEN: ...but we can't pin the deaths on him and call it a day.

AZALEA: Is there anything proving he's the killer?

KAMIYA: There's nothing.

KAMIYA: That's because I had **nothing** to do with the murders.

JOANNA: There's also **no proof** he's innocent.

ELAINE: What if he had an **alibi**?

DALIA: It'd mean nothing. He could have an **accomplice**.

DALIA: Unless there's **tangible proof**...

DALIA: ...we can't trust anything or anyone!

MATTHEW: We won't get anywhere if we don't accept the proof!

* * *

Azalea looked at Joanna. "Sorry, Joanna, but you're wrong. What Elaine said is right: Kamiya has an alibi"

"Oh? Really?" Joanna crossed her arms "And who is that alibi? Can they really prove Kamiya didn't kill them?"

Matthew intervened: "I can. I slept in Kamiya's cottage, right in front of the entrance door. It's impossible he left the cabin"

Kouma wasn't convinced at all. Kamiya had convinced a person once to kill, it could have happened again. Even though Matthew was trying to assure them he wasn't as weak-willed as to let himself be tempted to kill, she glared at Kamiya. "You two could have worked together! There were—two victims, so there could be two killers!"

"And how do you propose they did that?" Vittoria asked, her voice sounding a tad impatient. Kouma seemed to choke on her own words before sighing.

"I dunno, I just—it's something we need to consider"

Elaine slammed her hand on her podium, startling Kouma. For a moment the writer said nothing, she just took out a long piece of duct tape. "They're not lying. When they entered the cabin, I put a few of these across the door. They were still intact when I went to get them this morning, so I can tell you they didn't leave their cottage at all"

"That's good enough for me" Dalia decided "So Kamiya didn't do it, Matthew didn't do it...that leaves eight suspects. Seven if you don't count me. I didn't kill them, by the way"

"I think it may be safe to not consider Azalea a suspect. We have to stay wary, but my personal opinion is that Azalea wouldn't kill her sister" Lucien said. His expression wasn't kind, but there was an odd subtle kindness to his words that didn't go unnoticed to Azalea. "There are seven people who could have done it. How else can we narrow down the list?"

"Let's work with what we have, like the crime scene" Thioro said "What we should focus on first?" _There aren't that many options. We know there's something odd about it, so we should talk about..._

* * *

 _The location_

 _The victims_

 _The weapons_

 _The cottages_

* * *

 ** _The location_**

* * *

"We found the bodies in middle of the cottages area. Why were they there?"

"Because they got killed there, of course" Kouma said "The killer had no reason to take them anywhere"

"And we all examined every other place of this resort. There were no pools of blood anywhere" Thioro pulled from his tie. He didn't seem satisfied, more like resigned "I guess we have no choice but suppose they died where they were found"

"So if there was blood anywhere else that'd be the real crime scene?" Azalea put her finger against her forehead. Thioro knew very well there was too little blood where the bodies had been found, he had to know that wasn't where they got killed. Was he playing dumb to get someone to refute him? _I better do it, then._ Thioro nodded, so Azalea looked at Elaine for a moment "There's something you should know about. It's..."

* * *

Monobear File #3

Arrows

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wooden Board

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

* * *

 **Trail of Blood**

* * *

"Elaine found some blood. I think it's from Runihura having been dragged to where we found them? If you follow them in the opposite direction, you should get to where they got killed"

"Really? Blood?" Thioro looked at Elaine, expecting a confirmation, so the writer nodded "...I didn't see anything like that, so it can't have been that much blood"

"But I do think that may have been where they died" Elaine insisted "No other place has any blood"

Joanna raised a gloved finger. "She's right, you know. Vittoria and I examined almost every inch of the resort and we found no blood at all"

Azalea smiled, grateful. People were accepting what they were saying! "So by process of elimination and because of the blood, we'll know where they got killed—"

 **THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!**

The by now familiar objecting voice ringed through the trial room, getting Azalea's attention. She suppressed a sigh and turned towards who it was. "Yes, Matthew?"

"Look, Runihura died because all those arrows skewered him, right? So of course there'd be a lot of blood. That's why you all say the crime scene wasn't where the bodies were found. So if there's not a lot of blood over there, how can you say that's the crime scene?"

"There's no other place it could be!"

"Maybe the killer cleaned the blood! Or it could be the real crime scene would point at the killer so they moved the bodies. What I'm saying is that there isn't enough evidence to say that part of the cottage area is where those two got killed!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Injection Wounds / Arrows / Allergy Rash / Wooden Board / Flower Preserver_

* * *

MATTHEW: The lack of blood proves that wasn't the crime scene

MATTHEW: I guess his clothes could have absorbed it or something...

MATTHEW: ...but then Thioro would have mentioned it!

MATTHEW: My point is that if we're talking about the crime scene

MATTHEW: Then it has to be some place with lots of blood

MATTHEW: Not just a few splashes and drag marks.

MATTHEW: That guy died because he was shot with many arrows

MATTHEW: Anyone would bleed a lot!

AZALEA: It's the only place that makes sense.

AZALEA: Are you doubting your sister's testimony?

MATTHEW: I fully trust Elaine, but even she makes mistakes

MATTHEW: If there had been **anything else** that could prove...

MATTHEW: ...that's the crime scene then fine!

MATTHEW: But there isn't any

MATTHEW: It'd have been mentioned already

MATTHEW: So I say the killer **cleaned the real crime scene**

MATTHEW: All so we wouldn't know where they died!

* * *

"If what you want is more evidence then that's what you'll get" Azalea said, determined "The blood isn't the only thing Elaine found. She also found a wooden board covered in blood"

"A...A board covered in blood? How much blood?"

"It had a lot of blood. I think it's related to the murder" Elaine said

"And where exactly was that board?"

Elaine took out her copy of the map, showing it to everyone. "It was over here, near my cabin and Alistair's cabin. Pretty close to the blood, so I think there's no question the killer attacked at least Runihura there"

Matthew leaned forward, staring at the map with intensity, and let himself drop onto his podium, sighing. "Fine. You two were right, I was wrong. That's the real crime scene"

"Does that narrow down the suspects?" Lucien inquired.

"The map says only Elaine and Matthew would be nearby, but they said Matthew was with Kamiya, so...that'd leave only Elaine over there" Dalia turned towards the writer, crossing her arms "So, did you see anything?"

"No...only when I woke up I found the board and the blood" she admitted.

"Then that means Elaine's a suspect – she'd have the chance to kill them"

"Not really. A different person could have gotten there too" Dalia said "A person grabbed a bow and arrows from the stadium...and went to kill the victims!"

"So the killer got those two to leave the safety of their cabins and killed them..." Matthew thought, his lens moving back and forth "I guess that makes sense" _No, that's wrong. We better set the record straight, or we may make a mistake._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Lack of Blood / Message Card / Vase of Flowers / Dried Paint / Joanna's Testimony_

* * *

LUCIEN: I doubt those two would have **_a reason_** to walk around

LUCIEN: So that means the killer **_called them outside_** of their cabins

DALIA: What'd be important enough to get them to leave the cottages?

DALIA: Everyone knows you just don't walk around at night!

DALIA: That's just stupid.

JOANNA: They may have tried to kill someone.

KAMIYA: That'd make their target a suspect

KAMIYA: Were they killed **_in self-defense_**?

ELAINE: Those two weren't the killer types.

ELAINE: It's more likely they **_tried to help someone_**

MATTHEW: So...there was **_a fourth person_** involved? Who is it?

KAMIYA: ...I shouldn't have said a thing.

KAMIYA: Curse me for bringing up a third person

* * *

Azalea entwined her fingers, resting her chin on them. For a moment she had to keep herself from lashing out at everyone for insinuating Chrysanthe had planned to kill someone, or that they had been killed in self-defense – to make it even worse, she couldn't deny that was a possibility. Still, for now she wanted to pretend it wasn't. _If there's no reason to think anything like that happened, then I shouldn't mention it._ "They did have a reason to be out of their rooms – or at least Chrysanthe did" Azalea stated.

"What is that reason? You do not think your kind sister was thinking to-"

"It's the vases!" Azalea interrupted, raising her voice. Once she noticed she had done that, she cleared her throat, embarrassed "I-I mean, the vases everyone must have found when they left the cabins this morning. That's why she went around at night"

"That's true! I remember Chrysanthe had asked me what my preferred flowers were. This morning I found a vase with them in front of my door" Lucien narrowed his eyes "It does seem those were her only intentions. I doubt she'd have continued if she had tried to kill someone in middle of giving those vases"

"See? Chrysanthe's completely innocent of anything! She wouldn't harm anyone!"

"What about Runihura?" Kamiya inquired.

"Could _he_ have been planning to kill someone? Perhaps he tried to kill Chrysanthe?" Lucien proposed. For a moment the Hostages discussed the possibility Runihura wasn't as innocent as they had thought him to be, but nobody got to a conclusion.

Joanna tightened the strings of her violin, thinking. "There has to be something that could show us what Runihura was doing that night. Did he meet Chrysanthe?"

"Damn it, this is impossible. We can't know what they were thinking" Elaine muttered "What's for sure is that Runihura didn't cause his own death. There's a chance he killed Chrysanthe, but how did he die?"

"A third person must have done it"

Kouma nodded several times, a bit elated. "Exactly! There was an empty quiver at the Stadium. The culprit took those arrows and a bow, and shot several arrows into Runihura in that part of the cottage area"

"Of course. That should mean Chrysanthe died first, didn't she?" Lucien said "Because, if she had been in the area, then she'd have tried to stop Runihura's death. She had to have died by then"

"No! That's wrong. Chrysanthe was still alive in that moment. There's proof of that" Azalea said, taking out the evidence that'd prove it.

* * *

Monobear File #3

Arrows

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wooden Board

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

* * *

 **Monobear File #3**

* * *

"The Monobear File shows the times of death. As you can see, Chrysanthe died five minutes after Runihura. It's impossible she didn't see something!"

"But it's odd, here she says she was exposed to something at the same time Runihura was killed. The killer must have done that too, right? What's Chrysanthe allergic to?" Elaine asked. When Azalea informed her Chrysanthe was allergic to lemons, Elaine made a face of recognition. "Ah, that's true, you had said something like that during the first trial. But it doesn't make sense, how do you use lemons on a person while you're killing another with arrows?"

"That's what we'll have to find out" Azalea put the file away, looking like she wasn't sure of what she was going to say, but she went ahead anyways. "Okay, Runihura died first. That means Chrysanthe was still alive. She must have tried to stop the killer"

Joanna looked at her gloves. "Thioro would have noticed any signs of fighting. I think we can assume Chrysanthe didn't fight"

"There's one person Chrysanthe wouldn't fight, yeah?" Kouma glanced at Azalea. _Wait what?_ She felt something cold and hard settling into the pit of her stomach, but she managed to stay calm, again without lashing out no matter how justified she thought it'd be.

"You think I killed _my own sister_?"

"I'm not saying that. Look, we—we need to suspect everyone. We can't rule out anyone without proof!" Kouma hurried to defend herself, sweating but looking straight at Azalea's eyes "I like you, Azalea, but it's our lives at stake here!"

 _She's right...we have to suspect everyone_. As much as she hated to admit, Kouma was in the right to suspect her. Azalea took a moment to settledown. "You're right. If Chrysanthe had been in danger, she'd fight. She wouldn't let herself be killed meekly. Then why didn't she fight?"

"What if the killer subdued her?" Lucien suggested.

"That's possible. Okay, but you know what I'm wondering?" Dalia looked at Runihura's photo on the podium he used to stand at "They died near those cabins, okay, but why did the killer move the bodies?"

"To fool us and make us think they hadn't died there"

Kamiya tapped one of the lenses of his gas mask. "Really now? Then why didn't they take the wooden board? That's a big clue to leave behind" _He's right, why'd they leave that behind? Unless..._

"Maybe the killer wasn't the person who moved the bodies" Azalea said.

"Nobody else has a reason to move the body" Dalia claimed, frowning "Who would do something like that?"

* * *

 _Runihura_

 _Chrysanthe_

 _Elaine_

 _The killer_

* * *

 ** _Chrysanthe_**

* * *

Azalea chewed her fingernail. It wasn't going to do Chrysanthe any favors, but it was something she had to say. "My sister. She may have been the one to move Runihura"

"Your...sister? But Azalea, your sister was another victim. If she wanted to look for help, it'd be easier to do without having to drag the body"

"People don't always make logical decisions, Thioro. It's possible Chrysanthe thought taking the body with her would get help quicker to him" Elaine said, and looked at Azalea, wordlessly indicating her to continue.

"There was something on the body that shows Chrysanthe must have touched it at some point, remember, Thioro?" she said, Thioro raised his eyebrows in recognition "Oh, you know what I'm talking about!"

"But the rest of us don't"

Azalea smiled sheepishly. "Right, sorry, Elaine. Uh, you see, there's proof, and it is on..."

* * *

 _On Runihura's body_

 _On Chrysanthe's body_

 _On the crime scene_

 _In the evidence Thioro found_

* * *

 ** _On Runihura's body_**

* * *

"Chrysanthe's hand smelled of lemon. If she touched something after having touched lemon, then she'd leave traces. Right?"

"She's right, there were traces of lemon on Runihura – in his armpit. So you think Chrysanthe left it there?"

"Yes. Come over here, I can show everyone" Azalea got off her podium and moved to the center of the trial room. Thioro, hesitant, loosened his tie and approached "Okay, let's give it a try. When I say 'now', let yourself fall, got it?" she put her hands under Thioro's armpits, preparing herself for the man's weight to fall on her "Now!"

Just like she instructed, Thioro let himself fall, collapsing on Azalea. She grunted, not having expected so much weight, but managed not to fall. Instead she awkwardly started dragging him, managing to hold most of the body in the air. He looked like he wasn't sure what to say or do, he was uncomfortable with such close contact. "S-See? It was...i-it...it was like this...!" she huffed, but after a moment she couldn't do anything else. Her knees weakened. "Thioro, you have to—" and they fell.

In a moment they both ended on the floor, Thioro on her, his body pressing onto her torso. "...can I get up already?" he asked, uncomfortable.

"Y-Yes, please—"

"Wait! Don't move!" Kouma suddenly yelled, getting off her podium and approaching her _. Hurry up, he's not a lightweight!_ "Guys, look at that! It's like how the bodies were!"

"She's right...it looks similar to that" Kamiya said "Thioro being upside down, Azalea looking upwards, it's exactly like the bodies"

"So Chrysanthe was dragging Runihura like that and she collapsed?" Matthew tried to make sure he understood the situation. Other Hostages confirmed it.

Azalea, starting to turn blue, tried to push Thioro away. "Guys...save the discussion for later, I-I'm getting...crushed here!"

Once everyone was back to their podiums, Dalia passed her hands through her hair, thinking. "So it does seem like Azalea's right, Chrysanthe dragged him. But that doesn't solve the part about who killed them. Any ideas? Anyone?"

"...Chrysanthe's not an option, right?" Matthew looked at Azalea with doubts, all response he got was a shrug from her "Okay, she's not an option. Then it must be someone else, a third person. Who could it be...?"

"Nobody has any reason to kill them. You guys think it was the motive, then?" Kamiya wondered

"It must be that. I don't see what other reason there'd be"

Thioro smiled. "I can think of another reason, honestly: getting out of here"

"I don't think anyone here would murder and let the rest die so they could get out of this virtual world" Kamiya said, although his voice betrayed he wasn't certain of it "Who'd do that?"

"I can think of a person who would: Sigrun Solheim" he waited for everyone's reactions. Everyone looked at him with expectation, so he continued, albeit a bit disheartened nobody seemed amazed "Killing me wasn't an option, so I suppose she targeted someone else to escape"

Azalea scratched the bridge of her nose, doubtful. "Why'd she act now, why not before?"

"Because I threatened to reveal who she was"

"How can you know who she is?" Matthew asked in disbelief.

Thioro stopped, wiping sweat from his forehead with his tie and looking at the door, at Spots and Stripes. Spots nodded, so he admitted: "I'm in debt to the admins now because they gave me of a way to investigate" he took out of his pocket a large key with Monobear's head "This key opens every lock in this virtual world, with one exception: the third floor of the communal building. A couple days ago I took the liberty of examining the cabins of all the female Hostages currently alive, looking for clues...and I succeeded. I found who among you girls is Sigrun"

"How...? How can you find out her identity?" Elaine's glasses shone "Sigrun can't just have left something that'd prove that, right?"

"Believe it or not, it was easy" he took out of his coat a black notebook, bound with leather. Somewhere in the room a woman gasped, but nobody could pinpoint where it came from "This is Sigrun's diary. I think this is the treasure she received as the second motive. Written here is a concise tale of everything she has done, and for who" he touched the edge of the leather thoughtfully "It never says her name, but the language, the descriptions, it doesn't fit at all the talent she says she has. That's the big clue"

"Okay, so we have good proof someone here is Sigrun! Who is it?" Lucien forcefully requested.

Thioro theatrically opened the notebook, browsing through it until he found a page he was looking for "Also, you should listen to this: 'I was tasked with performing a sabotage. The target shall be weakened with a single arrow, without killing. My crossbow should be enough for the task'" he looked up "And not long after that one: 'My surgical precision has paid off. The target has lost all use of his leg'" As you can see, Sigrun is an expert with arrows and crossbows. Here with me so far?"

 _Arrows...?_ Slowly, it dawned on Azalea. She now knew who Thioro suspected Sigrun was. Kouma didn't realize, though. "But who is it? Give us the name!"

Thioro raised a hand, enjoying the attention, and finally pointed. "It's you! **Joanna Da Silva** , your real name is **Sigrun Solheim**!"

Slowly, everyone turned towards Joanna. The violinist was clutching her violin against her chest, her glasses slipping down her nose. "What?!"

"It's you. I found this notebook under your mattress. I also found this..." the detective shows a piece of paper with a few notes about the resort "...which I used to compare the handwriting. It's exactly the same. You can't deny this is yours"

"Is it true, Joanna? Are you Sigrun?" Vittoria inquired without sounding accusing. She sounded calm, patient. The violinist jerked her head towards Vittoria, her glasses almost flying off her face. She barely caught them, pressing them against her face with violence.

"Of course it isn't true! Why would I hide my identity?"

"She has a point there. Why'd she have that fake name?" Lucien agreed.

"When I met her the first day her name tag showed Joanna Da Silva. Did the admins lie too?" Matthew pointed out. Everyone turned to the admins for an explanation, hoping to hear about it, but neither of them said anything. All they had left was Joanna, who refused to talk.

"I admit I don't know why Joanna would pretend to be someone else, but there must be a reason" Thioro said. Azalea, thoughtful, looked at Joanna, who was clutching her violin so tightly the wood seemed to be creaking underneath her fingers. _Joanna would have no reason to hide her name unless... ...could it be...?_

"I think I can guess the reason why Sigrun concealed her identity" Azalea slowly said. Joanna pointed at her with the bow, enraged.

"Nobody asked _you_ , Azalea!"

Kamiya crossed his arms. Anyone could guess he had a sly grin behind his mask. "That was quite the reaction. I think she's afraid you actually have an idea"

"Nobody asked _you_ either!"

Ignoring Joanna's furious outburst, Azalea continued. "The reason why Sigrun would hide her identity is..."

* * *

 _...to hide from the administrators_

 _...to hide from the kidnappers_

 _...to hide from another Hostage_

 _...to hide from all the Hostages_

* * *

 ** _...to hide from another Hostage_**

* * *

"The only possibility I can think of is that Sigrun has a false name because they're hiding from another Hostage" she said "The name was on the name tag, and I think the admins or the kidnappers gave those to us, so it's like they gave it and Sigrun played along. But why would she? None of us had heard about Sigrun Solheim at all, it's not like she's a known killer.

...actually, that's wrong. There's one single person who knows about Sigrun. That's the person Sigrun wanted to fool"

"And who is that?" Kamiya asked helpfully. Everyone else was silent, looking between Kamiya, Azalea and Joanna seething with anger. Azalea took a deep breath.

"The person Sigrun wanted to hide from is...

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Vittoria Delacroix**

* * *

"It's Vittoria. Remember what she said yesterday?"

 _"Monobear was not bluffing, she is indeed related to us. From what I remember, this Sigrun Solheim is a likely candidate to be a member of a Main Board who betrays and causes trouble"_

Azalea hit her podium with both fists, while Vittoria's visible eye widened in understanding. "Vittoria knows about Sigrun. If she had found out about Sigrun, who knows what'd have happened!"

"Nothing would have happened. I have nothing to hold against Sigrun" Vittoria said, although her way of saying 'Sigrun' instead of 'Lady Solheim' was kind of significant.

"Yeah, but would Sigrun know that? It could be just a precaution"

"What do you have to say to that, Joanna?" Matthew asked. Joanna's rage had subsided while Azalea and Vittoria talked, she had closed her eyes, still holding her violin as if her life depended on it. "Joanna!"

Joanna opened her eyes, half-lidded. "I didn't think I'd be forced to reveal my identity like this. I thought I could stay hidden...but looks like that's not an option anymore"

"That means you're admitting it?" Kamiya tried to confirm.

"Yes"

Kouma held her head, feeling a headache setting in. "So you're a fake! You lied about your name, about who you are, everything! Why'd you do that?"

"Oh, that's not right. I have only lied about two things" she raised her gloved hand, enumerating her lies with her fingers. "One was my name, the other my talent. I really am a talented violinist, but the admins told me that's not the talent they'd have assigned me"

"Then what's your talent?" Kamiya inquired. Joanna turned the violin around in her hands until the top part was aiming at the rest of the Hostages.

"I suppose I should introduce myself again" She moved her hands adeptly, twisting the knobs of the violin and adjusting parts of it, stacking the violinbow onto it. In seconds she had transformed her violin. It was mostly intact, but now the top end was split in two, forming a T. The strings were pushed to a side, leaving an empty space in middle, and the bow showed to be much more elastic than it should be, the string on it being set right to the wide end of the violin.

It was a crossbow. In a second she took out several bolts from under her cravat, placing one into her crossbow and holding the rest in her hand. She held the crossbow at the ready, dauntless.

"Greetings, everyone. My name is **Sigrun Solheim**. The title I'd have would be **Super High School Level Enforcer** "


	23. Chapter3:No Good Deed Goes Unpunished VI

Sigrun turned her violin around, showing how she had modified it to be a crossbow. "Impressive, right? Most people wouldn't think a simple violin could turn into a crossbow. I made the modifications by myself. Setting the trigger and the mechanism inside this violin was difficult, but I'm a professional. It was like trying to find the right note, the right start for a composition. Now that I think about it, the bow of this violin was made of..." she continued rambling calmly, as if she wasn't in middle of a trial and just accused of having killed two people. Only when Lucien interrupted she stopped, instinctively aiming towards the marine biologist.

"See? She's the kind of person who'd kill two people and try to get the rest of us killed in the trial! She doesn't even have any regrets!"

"Enforcer...isn't that a mafia thing?" Kamiya said to Matthew, just loud enough for Joanna to have heard that. She shook her head, playing with a bolt between her fingers.

"Not precisely. I have no sides, Kamiya. If you pay me, I do whatever you want me to do. Sometimes I enforce the law, sometimes I enforce the internal rules of some criminal organization, it all depends on who pays me" she turned towards Vittoria "Your uncle hired my services several times. I never killed anyone under his orders, but you should know I had to do a few dirty jobs for him"

"...I am aware of that" Vittoria replied begrudgingly "Now, I ask you to answer: are you this Valkyrie woman we are looking for?"

"Absolutely not, I never joined Diavolos Avante. I don't have any interest in being anyone's boss. That'd get in the way of my work" her way of talking was less enunciated than she had been before, like she was now at liberty of talking. Thioro, nervous but hiding it rather well, inquired:

"Joanna...she never existed, right? You didn't kill someone named Joanna to take her identity, right?"

Sigrun raised her eyebrows. "Perish the thought! That's just an identity I created and discarded long ago. Now that I think about it, that was the identity I had when I had this age. The kidnappers did their job rather well, this is a detail I wouldn't have told anyone"

Elaine decided to force the discussion back to where they had left. "Okay, we found out this woman is Sigrun. Now what? Is she the killer?"

"Even if she's not Valkyrie, she could be the culprit of this case" Kamiya said "The weapon used points at her"

"The arrows?"

"I have seen her practicing archery at the Stadium before. She could have killed Runihura!" Matthew corroborated. Sigrun pointed at him with a crossbow bolt.

"That may be true, but my main weapon is this crossbow"

"That doesn't mean anything" Lucien said "If the situation required it, I'm sure you'd use a different weapon"

"...okay, that's true too, but I almost always have my violin with me. I'd have no reason to look for a different weapon" she replied. Azalea looked at her, thoughtful. Had Sigrun killed them? Thioro did seem to believe she had done it, and given everything they had heard about Sigrun and the fact she had hidden her identity, it wouldn't be odd if most people suspected her. The problem was that there was no evidence to refute or to confirm that theory. Everything they had was very weak proof, how were they all supposed to deal with this?

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Four Keys / Thorn / Map of the Cottages Area / Dried Paint / Monobear File #3_

* * *

DALIA: Sigrun is our main suspect now

DALIA: **To escape** out of this resort, she killed Runihura and Chrysanthe!

ELAINE: How did she did that?

THIORO: We all know by now **Runihura died first**.

THIORO: First Sigrun attacked Thioro **with arrows**

THIORO: Her **expertise with archery** gave her the means to do it.

THIORO: Afterwards, she **murdered Chrysanthe**...

THIORO: ...through the **use of lemons**.

LUCIEN: There's an empty quiver at the Stadium

LUCIEN: Sigrun could have taken them anytime.

THIORO: She did. Sigrun **took the arrows long ago**...

THIORO: ...preparing to commit the murder!

LUCIEN: **Last night** it was her best chance

LUCIEN: She must have **ambushed them** in middle of that dead end.

ELAINE: ...are we sure about this?

ELAINE: Isn't there something that **continues unanswered** about her methods?

* * *

Azalea narrowed her eyes. Elaine was right, there was something that didn't fit. Thioro and Lucien were pushing towards Sigrun having the chance to kill Runihura, but now that she thought about it... "So you say Sigrun planned since long ago to kill someone with arrows. Right?"

"I didn't do that! I wasn't the one to take all those arrows" Sigrun hurried to defend herself.

"Then that means Sigrun had decided on the means to commit the murder since back then. Then what about Chrysanthe?"

Kamiya's mask hid his expression. "What about her?"

"Chrys was murdered with something that had lemons. That's a rather specific weapon, isn't it? Do you all think Sigrun also took lemons to kill my sister?"

"That doesn't make much sense, I think. Why wouldn't Sigrun kill her with arrows too, instead of using lemons?"

"It's not just that! If Sigrun planned to use lemons to kill somebody, then Chrys is the only target she could have! You think she planned to kill both Chrys _and_ someone else? Did she wait all this time for Chrys to give her the chance to be killed? If she wanted to kill Chrys with arrows, how was she killed with lemons instead?"

"Did the arrows have any lemon on them?" Kouma asked. Thioro, reluctant, shook his head.

"There was no lemon on them"

"...okay, I admit this is strange, but I'm not sure it changes anything" Matthew said "Runihura was the target, Chrysanthe was...what's the term? Friendly fire?"

"Collateral damage" Vittoria suggested.

"Yes, collateral damage. I mean, other than Sigrun who else could have killed them?"

"Let is be practical- Those who think Sigrun is the killer raise your hand" Five Hostages raised a hand "Does this mean the rest of us think she did not do it?"

"Come on, guys, who else could have done it?" Lucien looked exasperated.

"I just want to keep the options open! I did think she could have done it, but what Azalea said is too odd to just leave aside" Dalia tried to justify her change of opinion "So five of us think she didn't kill them. We're split"

"As usual. It seems it is starting to be customary" Vittoria turned towards Monobear "Will we do the same we did the last two trials?"

Monobear raised a paw, excited. "That's right! It's time for some fun! Are you all reaaaaaady?!" nobody bothered to answer. Not showing how much that annoyed him, Monobear started moving the podiums, dividing the Hostages in two groups. Azalea looked at the ones that were on her side. It was nice to have their support, but if they couldn't convince the others to continue the trial instead of voting for Sigrun immediately, there was a chance it'd end in all of their deaths. _We have to continue...for the sake of the truth!_

* * *

 **Debate Scrum**

* * *

Azalea: Chrysanthe

Sigrun: Precision

Dalia: Change

Elaine: Weapon

Vittoria: Archery

* * *

LUCIEN: Arrows are Sigrun's preferred murder weapon

ELAINE: She wouldn't need a **weapon** other than her crossbow

KAMIYA: She used arrows so she could pretend she didn't know archery

VITTORIA: Everyone here has seen her practicing **archery**

KOUMA: Only someone with surgical precision could have killed him

SIGRUN: Nothing about the way he died needs any **precision**!

MATTHEW: Chrysanthe saw the murder and tried to run away

AZALEA: It was already decided **Chrysanthe** dragged the body

THIORO: It doesn't matter what she did. It doesn't change Sigrun could have killed them.

DALIA: There are enough vague points that can **change** the whole case!

* * *

Azalea held onto the sides of her podium while everything returned to the ground. Had they managed to convince them not to end the trial there and then? "Please listen, we have to continue. Sigrun may be our main suspect, but there are too many unanswered points. Can we continue?"

For a moment nobody said anything, until... "What a pain...but fine. Let's continue" Lucien said "I'm not sure how we're supposed to proceed, though"

"We don't need to continue! Sigrun's archery skills are what killed that man. What else could it have been?" Kamiya argued. Sigrun, frustrated, sighed and fired a crossbow bolt into the ground. The bolt embedded into the stone, almost disappearing from sight.

"Did you see that? Now imagine that piercing flesh. Why'd I need normal arrows if I have these?"

"Does anyone other than Sigrun have any archery skills?" Lucien asked. Nobody seemed to know anything about other people knowing how to handle a bow properly, not even Sigrun knew "I suppose it's possible one of us can do it and we just don't know"

"But we can't work with guessing. If nobody else saw anything, then Sigrun is still the only person here who knows how to handle a bow" Elaine said, crossing her arms "Unless there is a way to use the arrows without needing a bow, then she'll continue being the only suspect"

"That's impossible. You can't stab with an arrow" Lucien played with the long sleeves of his shirt, talking in a matter-of-fact way "Arrows are pointy, but they need speed to properly pierce a person. Without a bow, an arrow is pretty useless as a weapon"

Thioro added: "And firing a bow is not easy. You need good coordination with your hands and strength to hold the bow still while you aim. It's not something a complete beginner can do, even if you're trying to hit a target as large as Runihura" he pointed at Sigrun "That's why she's the only one who can have killed him, because she's the only one here with the skill to do it.

Without a bow, it's impossible to use the arrows!"

 _Without a bow? Wait a second..._ "Wait, it's weird, isn't it?" Azalea asked, an idea coming to her mind.

"What is weird, Lady Azalea?" Vittoria asked.

"Arrows went missing a couple weeks ago, Sigrun said that. But now that Lucien brings this topic up, I can't avoid wondering why a bow didn't go missing as well"

"That's only reliable if she's telling the truth" Elaine pointed out.

"But it's still odd. Let's suppose it's true. Why would someone take only the arrows? They didn't even take the quiver! Just the arrows!"

Lucien glared at her. "It's useless to think about that. Unless there is a way you can use arrows to kill without needing a bow, that doesn't matter"

"I can't think of a way" Kamiya said "Can you, Azalea?" for a moment Azalea hesitated. She had to think of a way to use the arrows that didn't involve the bow.

"...I can" Azalea finally said, still thinking hard "To kill with those arrows without needing a bow...uh...all you need to do is...use the arrows along one other object"

"What object?" Lucien demanded to know.

"What object? That's a good question! The—The object I'm talking about is...it is..." _Think! Is there really anything the arrows can be used with to kill?_

* * *

Monobear File #3

Arrows

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wooden Board

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

* * *

 **Wooden Board**

* * *

"That's an easy one...um...there was this board Elaine found"

"You mean the one that was all bloody?" Dalia inquired.

"It wasn't just bloody. It also had a couple arrows stuck into it, aiming upwards, and others were broken" Azalea gained some more confidence the more she talked. Yeah, that could be it! "I think the reason why the killer didn't need a bow is because they wanted to stick arrows into that wooden board"

"I'm not so sure about this" Matthew said "Arrows need speed, you can't just grab a board with arrows taped onto it and kill someone with that"

"He's right!" Thioro hurried to agree "Azalea, that can't be enough. How can that have killed Runihura?"

* * *

 _The killer swung the board_

 _The board fell on Runihura_

 _Runihura fell on the board_

 _The arrows were smeared with lemons_

* * *

 ** _Runihura fell on the board_**

* * *

Azalea grabbed tighter onto her podium. "That's right! Runihura fell on the board! Gravity and his weight made the arrows piece through him!"

"So that means the killer put the board with arrows on the ground and pushed him onto it?"

Dalia pulled from her braid, puzzled. "Can that really be done? I mean, how wouldn't Runihura notice that board behind him? How did Chrysanthe not see it? How's that possible?"

"We'll answer that later. You all asked for a way those arrows could have been used without a bow, and now you got it" Sigrun smirked, returning her crossbow into its normal violin state "Thanks, Azalea. You just earned my gratitude" _...good?_

"Sigrun wasn't cleared, but you did prove there's a chance someone else killed them" Matthew said "But then who else could have done it?"

"That is the important question now. We must find another suspect, or we will find ourselves stuck" Vittoria linked her hands together and got ready for the discussion that was to come.

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Sigrun's Testimony / Map of the Cottages Area / Wreath / Empty Quiver / Trail of Blood_

* * *

SIGRUN: We won't get anywhere without a suspect

SIGRUN: Is there any **_evidence_** that could give us a name?

KOUMA: We could try by narrowing down those who are innocent.

KOUMA: Leaving Sigrun, Matthew and Kamiya out...

KOUMA: ...there are **seven people** left.

VITTORIA: Six, actually.

VITTORIA: Lady Azalea is **likely not to be the culprit**

KAMIYA: What if Runihura or Chrysanthe is a culprit?

KAMIYA: We can't rule it out yet.

MATTHEW: But that'd mean there are even **_more suspects_**!

MATTHEW: We're trying to **_narrow this down_** , not add more to the pile!

THIORO: Is this the best we can do?

KOUMA: You are the detective!

KOUMA: You do something!

* * *

Azalea took out the map Elaine had given her. "Maybe this could help, Sigrun. It's a map of the area. It shows to who the nearby cottages belong to"

Sigrun took the map, pushing the glasses up her nose. "Those who were nearby may have heard something, it's not like the cottages are soundproof. Let's see..." she frowned "That's interesting"

"Well? Who do those cabins belong to?" Thioro asked.

"According to this map, the four cottages belong to Aleksey, Elaine, Matthew and Alistair"

"Two of those are dead, that leaves Elaine and Matthew in the list" Kouma looked at them. Matthew seemed completely unconcerned, while Elaine seemed calm, but the pen in her hand was shaking slightly. Was she nervous?

"Matthew was at Kamiya's cottage. That means only Elaine was in that area" the detective looked at Elaine "So? Anything to say?"

"I heard nothing" she said "I was asleep, of course. I didn't wake up not even once"

"You realize this makes you the new prime suspect, don't you?" Lucien said "You were in the area, you had the chance to do it. You're on the chopping block now"

"With all due respect: 'that is bullshit'. You can't indict me on those shaky grounds!"

Lucien turned to talk to the rest. "The problem here is that there's even less proof pointing at Elaine. We're going to have a much harder time deciding what to do with her"

"We still must try. Let's look over the evidence again" Thioro started enumerating the different clues while Azalea's mind wandered. Was Elaine really a suspect? She couldn't deny the writer was a possible culprit, but she couldn't picture Elaine setting that board or killing Chrysanthe. Something about Elaine's way of helping her earlier seemed genuine to her, it couldn't be the actions of a cold-blooded killer.

Did she kill them and then wanted to get caught? No...that couldn't be it. If she wanted that, why not to confess? That'd be easier and it'd leave no chance of getting it wrong. _Elaine, please, don't be the culprit..._

"Guys, why do we think Elaine may be the culprit?" Azalea asked.

"Because those two died near her cottage" Matthew said. He didn't seem particularly worried about Elaine being accused "That's all. You can't blame my sister just because of that"

"It is not _just_ that. She also did not hear anything, which is unlikely. The victims must have made enough noise to alert someone nearby; do not you think?" Vittoria clarified.

"Not really. Some of those arrows got deep enough to pierce Runihura's lungs. You can't scream if your lungs are punctured" Thioro said.

"Chrysanthe is the only one who could have screamed, and Elaine heard nothing. You have _nothing_ you can use against her!" Matthew said.

"Who do you think is the killer, Matthew?" Kouma asked, looking annoyed. Was he going to shoot down their newest suspect so soon?

"I dunno! I just don't think it's Elaine, okay?"

Thioro didn't seem convinced, but it was better to give it consideration than to just ignore the possibility. "Fine. Where do we start?" They were going to take seriously the possibility Elaine was the killer. A bit worried, Azalea raised her hand.

"Uh, what if...don't you think there's something weird about the crime scene? That area has something odd. If it isn't the place where they died, then Elaine wouldn't be suspected, right?"

"She'd be suspected _less_ , but what do you have in mind now?" Lucien asked, looking annoyed as well. Why couldn't they keep a suspect for more than a few minutes?

"Remember why we decided the place the bodies were found wasn't the real crime scene? There's something that place and the area they seemingly died have in common, something that makes it unlikely they died there. It is..."

* * *

Monobear File #3

Arrows

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wooden Board

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

* * *

 **Lack of Blood**

* * *

"...you noticed how little blood there was at that place?"

"I think we all heard about it once or twice" Matthew said "But that's where the board was, so that's the crime scene"

"Weren't you the one who said that, Azalea?" Kouma tilted her head "I'm pretty sure you did"

Azalea smiled sheepishly "Yeah, I had said that, but I think...I'm having second thoughts?"

"You have to be kidding! We already discussed this, there wasn't any other place with blood!"

"And the board with the arrows was over there, I just said that" Matthew insisted.

Kamiya said, sounding almost sympathetic: "I agree with them, Azalea. It's true there's too little blood, but I think it's confirmed the victims were there at some point"

"I'm not saying they weren't; I'm just saying maybe there's something we're not noticing yet! Azalea waved her hands, a bit worried "I know about the blood, but there's too little!"

"We already told you, there was no blood at all at any other place" Thioro swept his hand around, pointing at everybody "We all examined all the places in this resort. If there had been any blood, someone would have found it.

Those two died near Elaine's cabin, end of story."

Almost no one was willing to listen to her. Had she made a mistake insisting about how that part of the cottage area had been where those two had died? Should she have waited longer before revealing that? Elaine agreed with Azalea, but nobody was listening to her either, because she was the suspect.

"Let's keep going! How could Elaine have killed someone in that place—" Dalia had started saying, but Vittoria cleared her throat loudly, getting everyone's attention. She made sure her gloves were well placed, dusted imaginary dust from her shoulders, and talked with a voice that showed no doubts.

"I have changed my mind, I agree with Lady Azalea. I feel there is more to this case than what we are seeing right now. Let is not continue this discussion for the time being"

"You too, Vittoria?" Thioro passed his hands over his face "...fine. We don't have the entire day to do this, so we better get this done quick. Where do we start?"

"Could someone have cleaned the blood?" Kouma wondered. Elaine shook her head, talking despite being the current suspect.

"It was night and dark, and I'm pretty sure the stone would stay dirty even if someone tried to clean it. All the blood should still be there"

"How are we going to know what place could be the real crime scene? We examined—we looked everywhere!"

"We'll have to discuss it" Lucien said, not looking happy at all _. If Elaine isn't the killer, then we have to look somewhere else other than where the board was found. But how? I can't think of any other place!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Arrows / Monobear File #3 / Wreath / Wooden Board / Message Card_

* * *

SIGRUN: There's no place in the resort...

SIGRUN: ...with **any blood** in them.

KOUMA: This'd be easier if we knew where Chrysanthe and Runihura were at

KOUMA: But **we can't find that out** anymore!

LUCIEN: We do know what they were doing.

LUCIEN: They were leaving **vases of flowers** for all of us.

LUCIEN: A perfect chance for someone to kill them.

SIGRUN: Do you think Elaine heard them, got out and killed them?

SIGRUN: Just like that?

ELAINE: I told you, **I heard nothing** at all

ELAINE: I didn't even **see them last night**.

* * *

Suddenly, Azalea raised her voice. "Wait, that's it! I think we may be able to find out more about what they were doing last night!"

"How? We can not ask them, and I do not think they left any notes about what they were planning to do" Vittoria asked.

"No, but we can make a guess if we think about what they were doing"

"I think I get it" Dalia said "They were leaving vases, so they had to visit the cottages of everyone who is alive"

"That would make the entire cabin area be the potential crime scene" Vittoria pointed out.

"No, that's not it. There's something else they were doing that night: they were leaving wreaths of flowers inside the dead people's cottages"

Thioro nodded. "That's right, I found that out. Aleksey's cottage had a wreath inside, it's not farfetched to suppose they did the same to other cottages"

"Where does that leave us?" Kamiya asked "Does that change anything?" _Does it?_

Azalea crossed her arms and tried to focus. It was a fact Runihura and Chrysanthe had left wreaths in those four cabins, but did that change anything? It'd still make the whole cottage area to be the potential crime scene, it didn't narrow anything at all. All she knew was that it was certain Runihura had bled in the section where Elaine's cottage was at. Had anything really changed?

"I guess that didn't matter very much" Matthew said "Do you have anything to say, Sigrun?"

"What? Why do you ask _me_?" she scowled.

"You're still kind of a suspect"

"I don't have anything to say. I told you guys already; I know nothing"

Elaine looked at the few notes she had written. "All she has said is that the arrows went missing before anyone had even died. That means the killer had been planning to kill since back then"

 _...wait...the arrows. They had gone missing long ago._ She had forgotten that detail. Something about that bugged Azalea. The arrows, how long ago they went missing, the fact they were glued to the board, the fact Runihura would have to _fall_ on them, the wreaths, the lack of blood, Chrysanthe having dragged Runihura...it all meshed together.

It was an outlandish thought. It sounded impossible, incredible. It was unlike any other possibility Azalea could have thought, yet it'd explain the lack of blood, if that was the real crime scene. And if it really was, then...there was one suspect more they had to acknowledge, even if they didn't want to. It was no surprise they wouldn't think of _him_ , who would?

"...guys, I think I know where they died" Azalea said in disbelief. Could she really be right? She had to be right. She took her copy of the map back and opened it "Chrys dragged Runihura, right? She passed through this big circle here" she moved her finger around the cul-de-sac "That much we can agree about, right?"

"I see no problem there" Sigrun said.

"There's one place I think nobody here checked. Look where the blood is, look where the board is, and think about how there's no blood yet they had to have been there. There aren't that many places where they could have come from, right?"

"...I'm not sure I get it"

"Please say it straight, Azalea, what place is it?" Matthew pleaded, looking tired. Azalea took a deep breath, preparing herself for what could solve or destroy the case.

"I think the crime scene...is right here!"

* * *

 _Alistair's cabin_

 _Matthew's cabin_

 _Aleksey's cabin_

 _Elaine's cabin_

* * *

 ** _Alistair's cabin_**

* * *

Azalea placed her finger on the rectangle that symbolized Alistair's cottage. For a moment all she could hear were murmurs of doubt and disbelief. Really? Why'd that be the crime scene? "Uh-Azalea, are you serious?" Kouma asked.

"I'm completely serious" Azalea replied "That is my answer"

"But that's impossible! That can't be true!" Elaine exclaimed, looking at Azalea as if the motivator had gained the ability to shoot lasers from her eyes. Azalea shook her head, confident.

"On the contrary, this is the only possibility that remains. The blood and the board shows the bodies passed through this area, and the board is near Alistair's cottage. It's not only near yours, Elaine, Alistair's right there too!"

Dalia slammed her podium with both hands, sweating heavily. "Wait a second, this can't be right!" she shook her head "Fine, maybe a cottage is the real crime scene, but why Alistair's? Why not one of the other three?"

"Thioro looked inside Aleksey's cottage, that's where he found a wreath. Matthew wasn't in his cottage the whole night, so he must have his key with him while he was with Kamiya. There's no way Elaine would have missed a big puddle of blood in her own cottage – and even if she were the killer, there's no way she'd kill them at the place where she sleeps.

Alistair's cabin is the only place that remains!"

"This is nonsense!" Elaine claimed, trying to cope with Azalea's argument "How would those two even get in a dead man's cottage?"

"They could...with these!"

* * *

Monobear File #3

Arrows

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wooden Board

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

* * *

 **Four Keys**

* * *

Azalea took out her own key to give an example. "Runihura had four keys with him, four keys that belonged to our friends who died. With those, they could have entered those four cottages at any time, including Alistair's!"

"...uh, that explains why there were flowers in Aleksey's cottage, I guess..." Matthew said, looking like he was starting to be convinced by Azalea's argument.

"How did he obtain those keys?" Kamiya asked and turned to the admins "Hey, you two! You gave them to him?"

"Of course we did. We keep the keys of those who die" Stripes admitted.

"Runihura was the one who asked for the keys, right?" Matthew tried to confirm. Stripes and Spots looked at each other for a moment before shaking their heads.

"Actually, we gave them to Chrysanthe" Spots clarified "The thing with the flowers was her idea"

"Okay, so—Chrysanthe had the keys, and she met with Runihura and a third person? And they all went into Alistair's cottage?" Kouma tried to understand, Lucien didn't seem completely convinced yet.

"Supposing they really were killed in that cottage; the killer could have been waiting inside. In that case, there's only one person who could have entered it"

"And who is it?" Thioro asked. Lucien looked at him, bemused.

"You. That master key you used to enter the girls' cottages...you could have used that key to enter Alistair's cottage"

"That's true. You could have prepared the board with the arrows and waited for them to enter the cabin" Elaine agreed. Thioro, a bit peeved, dried his forehead with his tie, shaking his head.

"How'd I know those two were going to enter his cottage?"

"If you met them while they were leaving the flowers, they could have told you and you could have prepared both the arrows and the lemons!" Dalia jumped into the bandwagon, pointing, accusing.

"That's not what happened at all. I was sleeping, I didn't leave my cabin at any time"

Kouma tried to get everyone's attention. "Let's get those two plushies check Alistair's cabin! Come on, what are we waiting for?" Nobody protested, so Spots and Stripes left the trial room, the television descending from the ceiling and turning on. While they waited for the admins to get to the cabin, Sigrun approached Azalea, who was watching the screen with grave expression.

"You have been silent for a while. Do you think Thioro is the killer?"

Azalea closed her eyes. She really didn't want to think about the person she was suspecting right now, but whatever they were going to find at the cottage now would prove or disprove it. "...no. I don't think he's the killer" Sigrun listened, disapproving, but didn't ask for more details. Azalea surely knew what she was doing, right?

The admin whose point of view they were watching arrived to the door. Judging by the red paw that grabbed the doorknob, it was Stripes. Without having to use the key, Stripes partly opened the door. "Wait!" Lucien suddenly shouted, startling Stripes into stopping.

"What is it?"

"Go back a bit. I saw something odd" he requested, so Stripes obeyed, giving a clear view of the entrance door. It didn't take long for everyone else to see what had caught Lucien's attention.

There was a string crossing the door, high enough for someone to trip against it right below the knees. The string was black, thin, almost unnoticeable. If it wasn't for Stripes being much shorter than the Hostages, none of them would have seen it. "Is that...a tripwire?" Matthew wondered.

"Where is that tripwire connected to, Stripes?" Vittoria asked. The admin looked at the ends of the string, everyone looking through his eyes. One end was tied to a nail incrusted to the wall, the other end was tied to a nail stuck onto the door. Stripes opened and closed the door, demonstrating how the tripwire worked.

"When you open the door, the string will get tense enough to make anyone who enters trip" he explained.

"Open the door a bit more" Matthew ordered, Stripes obeyed.

There was blood, a lot of blood spilled on the floor. That immediately got everyone's attention, all the details of the cottage were forgotten for a moment, everyone could only focus on the large amount of blood that coated a large part of the floor. There were also drops and smaller puddles that went towards the door. Traces of when Chrysanthe dragged Runihura's body? "There's so much blood...we can't deny it: Runihura died here"

"After all this time it turns out this cabin was the real crime scene...how could this have happened?" Vittoria was pale, clutching at her sleeves.

Matthew frowned, staring at the screen. "There's a lot of dust here. It was just like a week, why's there so much dust?" He was exaggerating a bit, but there indeed was enough dust to notice footprints and the such. It was impossible to know what belonged to who, though.

Lucien stepped back, his eyes widening. "Step back again, Stripes!"

"What, you saw something again?" he grumbled but obeyed, stepping back. Once again it was obvious what had gotten his attention. Some distance away from the spilled blood there was a square imprint on the dust, not too far from the tripwire "No matter how you look at it, that's not normal.

Thioro looked lost. "I don't get it; what's going on here?" While the other Hostages discussed the significance of the tripwire and the imprint, Azalea lowered her eyes, saddened. So it really was like she was suspecting...the odds her suspect was the culprit had just skyrocketed. She took a deep breath, trying to steel herself.

"I think I understand what happened. There's someone we should consider a suspect; someone nobody here has mentioned before" she said almost monotonously.

"Really? A suspect that isn't Thioro?" Lucien, skeptical, tilted his head, looking at her with doubt "Who is it?"

"If this cottage is the crime scene, then this tripwire and the imprint are _very_ important. Think about who'd have a chance to set this up" Azalea grasped her hands so tightly her knuckles turned white, but she kept talking, forcing herself to continue pursuing the truth of that incident "It's possible the person responsible for this murder...no, **the person who caused this stupid accident** was..."

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Alistair Sullivan**

* * *

"…it had to be Alistair. It's his cottage, he had the opportunity to put that tripwire and the board with the arrows...Alistair could be the person responsible for this incident"

A heavy silence fell in the courtroom. For a moment nobody was sure what to say. Alistair, of all people, was the culprit? That had to be impossible, right?! "Are you feeling okay, Azalea?" Kouma asked, sounding worried.

"I'm fine. Why?"

"Because—you're accusing Alistair. Look over there, Azalea" she gestured at the podium opposite to her "He's dead. He has been dead for a week. He can't be the killer"

"It is more likely Sir Meziane is the culprit than someone who has been dead for a week being the culprit" Even Vittoria was doubting Azalea.

"Just because it's his cottage you think he's the killer? That's kind of a reach" Thioro said sternly.

"It's not impossible. Again, he had the chance to set up the tripwire and make the board. You can't deny he's a suspect!"

 **I'LL STOP YOU**

Thioro clenched his fists, glaring at Azalea. "I'm not going to let you lead us all astray. It's unlikely Alistair had anything to do with this murder"

"...Thioro, you realize that if Alistair isn't a suspect, then you'll be the main suspect?"

"I know! I won't let that stop me from making a mistake that'll cost all of our lives!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Sigrun's Testimony / Four Keys / Injection Wound / Arrows / Empty Quiver_

* * *

THIORO: You're suggesting Alistair planned to kill them

THIORO: But that's impossible

THIORO: I'm not saying it simply because he's dead

THIORO: A crime needs a target, an opportunity...

THIORO: ...and a means

THIORO: Alistair had none of those three

THIORO: Therefore, you can't say he's the killer.

AZALEA: I don't think his intent was to commit murder

AZALEA: But he is an option you have to keep in mind

THIORO: Let's take this slowly

THIORO: Are you saying he foresaw...

THIORO: ... **who would enter his cottage**?

THIORO: When would he have been able...

THIORO: ...to **commit this crime**?

THIORO: And last, did he have access...

THIORO: ...to **the objects involved**?

THIORO: I'm saying this as a detective:

THIORO: Your theory doesn't answer any of that!

* * *

Azalea crossed her arms. "So if I manage to prove Alistair had at least one of those three requirements, you'll consider my theory?"

"I promise I will. But you being able to reveal anything like that is—"

"Doable. I can" Azalea smiled "Right, Sigrun? Tell us, when did the arrows go missing from the stadium?"

Sigrun thought for a second. "They were gone since before anyone died. I'm not sure if it was during the first day or not"

"That's fine. What's important here is that the arrows went missing even before Alistair had been killed" she said "We thought it was because the killer had planned this murder since long ago...but it actually is because Alistair was the one who took those arrows"

"Can you prove Alistair was the one who took them?" Thioro demanded, but his face showed it was a feeble attempt to fight back, not a true challenge. Azalea shook her head.

"I can't. But her testimony proves Alistair had the chance to take the arrows that killed Runihura. That much should make you consider Alistair caused this all to happen!"

She was right. He had said he'd consider it if she proved Alistair had means, opportunity or a target, and she proved the means. Even if he didn't like the theory, he had to consider it as a potential truth. Dalia didn't like it either, but she was more willing than Thioro. "Why would Alistair make a deadly trap like that one?"

"He must have been scared. Trapped in this place, at risk of being killed at any moment...he must have looked for a moment of peace" Kamiya said "If I had to guess, I'd say he'd put the board with the arrows when he was sleeping or out of his cabin, just in case someone tried to sneak into his cottage to kill him. He was scared, like the rest of us"

Thioro nodded, agreeing with Kamiya's guess, and sighed. "Okay, let's get to work. Alistair, Elaine and I are the suspects"

"Why am I still a suspect?" Elaine inquired.

"Nothing shown so far proves you didn't do it" Sigrun said.

"You aren't completely cleared either!"

"Leaving those two aside...!" Thioro raised his voice, trying to make himself be heard "There are flaws in the theory Azalea has. For example: Runihura's death. You're thinking Alistair intended for someone who enters to fall on the arrows, being tripped by the tripwire, right?" Azalea nodded, so he continued "Then the arrows would have been stabbed onto his front, not onto his back"

"Nobody would enter that place backwards!" Kouma said.

"The blood and the tripwire are too far from each other, there's something wrong there" Kamiya pointed out.

"Alistair being the culprit doesn't explain Chrysanthe's death, does it?" Kouma wondered. All those were valid concerns, and Azalea accepted them, nodding.

"I know; we're not done yet. We still have to investigate the cabin" she pointed upwards, to the TV screen "If we investigate, we may find the answers to all those questions, so how about it? Let's get going!"

"About time you said that. I'm getting tired of standing here" Stripes said, and started looking around. All the Hostages in the trial room kept their eyes glued to the screen – not that they had to look too hard for unusual stuff. There were so many obvious clues it was almost alarming they wouldn't have ever found them if Azalea hadn't thought about Alistair's cabin being the real crime scene.


	24. Chapter3:No Good Deed Goes UnpunishedVII

"Let's take this slowly" Thioro said while Stripes examined his surroundings "Is someone taking notes?"

"I'm ready" Elaine said, already sketching another one of her maps "First, that tripwire"

 **Tripwire**

 _A long and sturdy string, extending from the doorframe to the door. When you open the door, the string will be in a position to make you trip and fall forward._

"Don't forget the square imprint. We have to pay attention to every single clue we can find" Kamiya suggested. It was a reasonable suggestion, so that was jotted down as well.

 **Square Imprint in Dust**

 _A square empty space in middle of the dust on the floor of Alistair's cabin. It's near the tripwire._

Lucien murmured a few instructions, Stripes listening. To the rest, he said: "Since there's all this blood here, it's clear this is where that guy died. Let's check that part further"

"There's so much blood..." Elaine whispered to herself, a bit nervous, but she didn't look away. She wasn't wrong, there was so much blood it'd be difficult to find a part of the floor that wasn't stained with blood. There was a part of the floor that was too clean, they examined it.

"Over there, you see that?" Matthew pointed "Isn't that a bit too perfect of a shape?"

Sigrun nodded. "That's an empty square in middle of the blood. There's no way that isn't related to what's going on"

 **Square Imprint in Blood**

 _A square empty space in middle of the blood on the floor of Alistair's cabin. It's near the broken window, away from the entrance._

"Why is the window broken, by the way?" Elaine asked, tapping her pen against her notes. Kamiya shrugged.

"That was an accident. A rocket bottle accident, right, guys?"

"That's true, Thioro accidentally made a rocket bottle crash through the window of Alistair's cottage. Looks like the admins haven't fixed the window yet" Sigrun explained.

Matthew's lens sprung forward, focusing on a concrete part of the screen. "I think you're right, look over there. It's a bit hard to see, but that's a plastic bottle, right?" he pointed at what he meant. He was right. On the wall to the right of the cottage there was a very large stain of blue paint, already dry, opposite to most of the blood. Right in the middle of the cottage there was a plastic bottle, busted and crushed, so mangled it was impossible to say it had once been cylindrical. Instead of transparent, it was almost completely blue.

"Is that from the rocket bottle? I think it is, is it?" Kamiya couldn't see very well through the lenses of his gas mask.

"It's of the same blue color than the paint over there" Lucien affirmed.

 **Rocket Bottle**

 _A broken plastic bottle that used to contain blue paint, water and oxygen. Crashed through the window of Alistair's cottage four days before Chrysanthe and Runihura's death._

Thioro stared at the bottle without saying a word, his face blank. He knew very well what it was. The rest of the Hostages continued examining the place. In middle of the blood there was another object, one they recognized. "Over there! Didn't Runihura carry that—you know, he had it all the time!"

"His videocamera..." Matthew confirmed. Stripes picked up the videocamera, turning it over in his paws. It was splattered with blood, and one of its sides was coated with it. Judging by the blood, it had been near Runihura when he fell on the arrows trap.

"Do you think Runihura recorded something?" Elaine asked the rest, and judging there was no harm in checking, she asked Stripes to check. Stripes tried to turn on the videocamera, but nothing happened.

"It's broken" he informed helpfully. The lens and the screen were cracked; a corner of the camera was blunted "Tough luck"

Matthew tilted his head. "But we found the camera and that's important enough, right?"

 **Videocamera**

 _Runihura's videocamera. Broken. It seems it fell to the floor, and the lens and screen are cracked._

"Do you guys see anything else over here?" Azalea asked, trying to distinguish anything in or near the blood, but it seemed there was nothing else to see over there.

"I think we found everything there was to be found on this side. Let is check the other side" Vittoria recommended "That is a lot of blue paint all over the wall, is not it?"

"I don't see anything unusual over here" Matthew said.

"Wait! There's a small object...Stripes, pick it up!"

"Say 'please', Nana-san" he muttered but obeyed nonetheless, picking up it in his paw. It was a black sphere, polished and shiny. Most of it was covered in blue paint, the paint was flaking off.

"What's that?" Sigrun asked. She had never seen anything like that before.

"It's some kind of ball. Made of stone, kind of heavy..." Stripes informed "Is it important, guys?"

"Has anyone here seen anything like that?" Lucien asked. For a moment nobody said anything, just staring at the ball. _Wait, I think I have seen that before_! Azalea was about to tell them that when Thioro spoke.

"That's from the Monobear statues at the plaza. It's an eye"

"Really? How interesting, eh, Thioro?" Kamiya said snidely. The detective avoided looking at him.

"Another mystery to solve. Look at the bright side: with Thioro's help we found out what this is. We're making progress!" Dalia smiled at the detective "You're a good detective"

"Yes, I wonder how that got there" Thioro muttered darkly, closing his eyes.

 **Stone Eye**

 _An eye from one of the Monobear statues at the plaza. Smooth and small. Partially covered with blue paint. The paint is flaking off._

"There are not many objects of interest on this side of the cottage" Vittoria said, and she was right. The most striking detail was the large blue paint stain covering the wall – although it also covered a small table, most of it was covered in paint. On the table there was a vase, different from the ones Chrysanthe had asked for, and there were many roses inside the vase. Neither the vase nor the roses had any paint on them.

"Roses...?" Lucien raised an eyebrow, thinking.

"I heard Alistair liked roses, he must have brought those to his cottage by himself" Matthew said.

"...Stripes, please smell the roses"

"I don't think this is the time to stop and relax, Lucien" Kouma said.

"If you have nothing useful to say then shut up" Lucien said rather coldly, and waited for Stripes to obey. For a moment all the screen could see was the roses, Stripes buried his face among them.

"...this doesn't just smell like roses. It also smells like lemons" he informed.

Elaine stopped writing, surprised. "Lemons? Lucien, why did you think about smelling those roses?"

"During the first trial Azalea over there mentioned a flower preserver that had lemons in it. If this is how the lemon got onto Chrysanthe that'd answer the mystery of what was used to kill her" Lucien explained, sounding nonchalant about it all. _That makes sense...so Chrysanthe touched those roses?_

 **Vase of Roses**

 _A vase with a bouquet of roses. The vase is different to the ones Chrysanthe asked for. The roses are covered with flower preserver_

The Hostages continued investigating through Stripes' point of view, telling him to look in more detail a part of the cottage or to take some object, but no matter how much they searched it seemed there was nothing else that could be of use. They did find a wreath on the bed instead of the wall, but everyone agreed it was unlikely the wreath had any importance. _I suppose I should stop thinking about the components of the trap and think of it as a whole._

 **Arrows Trap**

 _A trap made with a wooden board with several arrows embedded into it, pointy side up. Bloodied and broker, Runihura fell on it. Originally located in Alistair's cottage_

Vittoria decided to get the trial back on track. "We found several important pieces of evidence. If we piece it together, we may finally find out what is the truth of this incident"

"Azalea was right, Runihura must have died in this cottage, and Chrysanthe must have come in contact with the lemons in here"

"But it's not confirmed Alistair is the culprit. I think some clues do point at him, but it's not confirmed yet" Elaine noted "I think Thioro is—"

"Let's vote for Alistair"

Thioro had said that, interrupting Elaine. Something in his expression had changed, his face now looked rough, unfeeling. He continued: "Let's trust Azalea on this. After seeing all this stuff, I think it's clear Alistair is the person we need to vote for. So let's get going already, okay?"

"I'm not convinced yet—" Lucien started saying, but Thioro wasn't willing to listen.

"I don't see how you don't understand yet. Alistair set the trap and the roses. That makes him the killer, even if it was an accident"

"I agree with Thioro that Alistair is the culprit we need to vote for, but do we really have to do it now?" Kamiya looked uncomfortable.

"Let's not spend more time in here. Come on, Monobear!" Thioro tried to get the bear's attention "Start the voting!"

"I'm not starting anything if nobody else wants to vote right now, pal" Monobear said, not caring much about Thioro's order. The detective almost snapped back at Monobear, but thought it twice and looked at the rest of the Hostages.

"Let's do it now, okay?"

Azalea frowned, a creeping feeling filling her. "What's the hurry?"

"It's pretty suspicious of you to demand a vote, Thioro. You're a suspect, remember?" Sigrun said, her voice seething with suspicion.

"I think it's clear Alistair set the trap that killed Runihura, and he must have brought the roses that killed Chrysanthe. That makes him the culprit" Thioro insisted, exasperated "It's only natural to decide to go ahead with the vote now that we know who did it!"

"I'd rather be sure of what we're doing" Elaine said "And Joanna is right, this is making you look suspicious"

"It's Sigrun" the enforcer corrected. Elaine smiled a bit.

"Sorry, I'm very used to knowing you as Joanna. It'll take a while to get used to your real name"

"Thioro, why do you want a vote now? Let's continue a little longer" Azalea proposed. Thioro didn't reply to that, but his face showed clear displeasure. _What's going on with him?_ "Thioro...are you trying to hide something?"

"I have nothing to hide" he said dryly. Azalea, unconvinced, looking at him for a moment before remembering something.

"Oh, I see. I think I see what you're worried about" she said. Thioro made a face of discomfort "Thioro, you can't hide that. Something as important as this—"

"I have nothing to hide! Just—just go ahead with the vote already!" _It's no use. He's going to try to bury this with the voting. If we vote wrong, it'll be the end of all of us. I have to show everyone what he's trying to hide!_

* * *

 **Panic Talk Battle**

* * *

THIORO: We have discussed enough

THIORO: It was him!

THIORO: Alistair set the trap

THIORO: Alistair killed Runihura!

THIORO: Alistair killed your sister!

THIORO: It was in his cabin, remember?

THIORO: Nobody else can be the killer

THIORO: Get to the vote already!

THIORO: Are you trying to stall for time?

THIORO: What do you think you're doing'1

* * *

 _I have nothing to hide – just go ahead with the vote already!_

* * *

 **Stone / Eye / and Blue / Paint**

* * *

Azalea didn't hesitate before talking. Thioro was hiding important information because it made him look very bad. It was true Alistair was the one who set up the trap, but did he cause _both_ deaths? Was he the person they had to vote for? Azalea felt they needed to dig more, but with Thioro getting in their way that was going to be impossible - even if it made Thioro look like even a bigger suspect.

"Thioro, we won't get anywhere if you try to hide the truth just because it's bad for you"

"I tell you, I'm not hiding anything!" he tried to counter, angry.

"That's a lie and you know it! Thioro, you're afraid you may be the true culprit after all!"

"Gh...!" Thioro shuddered, looking afraid.

"Wait, he's afraid of being the killer? How can he be afraid of that? You either are or you aren't the killer. You can't be unsure about it" Elaine asked.

"Unless he killed someone and was not aware of it until now. Of course he would be scared, it would mean he would be executed" Vittoria said.

"I didn't...I didn't kill anyone. I didn't cause anyone's death. It had to be Alistair"

"The stone eye kind of points at you, Thioro" Azalea pointed at the screen, where Stripes was helpfully holding the stone sphere "I remember you took that thing off the Monobear statue, and that you put it inside a rocket bottle when Sigrun and Kamiya were experimenting with them"

"That's right, Thioro did that" Kamiya confirmed "That rocket bottle was filled with—"

"With blue paint" Sigrun somberly completed.

"And that bottle crashed into Alistair's cottage back then. That means the plastic bottle we're seeing..."

"It's that same rocket bottle. The eye and the bottle were at the cottage when they died" Sigrun twirled the bow of her violin between her fingers, mulling the situation "What does this change? If Thioro's scared, then those objects may have something to do with their deaths...what if Runihura stepped on the eye? If he slipped and fell—"

"That could be it" Dalia admitted "But we can't know if that happened"

"On the contrary, we can" Azalea said, confident "We're lucky enough to have evidence to think it's possible Runihura did step on the stone eye"

* * *

Monobear File #3

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

Tripwire

Square Imprint in Dust

Square Imprint in Blood

Crushed Bottle of Paint

Videocamera

Stone Eye

Vase of Roses

Arrows Trap

* * *

 **Dried Paint**

* * *

"When Thioro investigated Runihura's body, he found flakes of blue paint on the sole of his shoe. Since most of the paint in that cottage is on the wall, the only way for Runihura to have gotten paint on his sole is by stepping on the object that had paint on it: the stone eye!"

"So he stepped on the stone and fell onto the trap?" Kamiya pondered "If he did that, then he could have fallen backwards, I guess"

"But the trap was placed in front of the door so whoever entered fell on the arrows, how could he have stepped on something that was inside the cottage?"

Sigrun looked towards the empty podiums. "Chrysanthe or Runihura must have moved the trap. They may have seen the tripwire and everything else"

"And after they did that, Runihura stepped on the stone eye and fell on the trap?" Kouma tried to get the story straight, looking at Thioro. The detective was pale, sweating bullets "That's no murder, that's—that's an accident!"

"It doesn't matter if it's an accident! A death is a death, and whoever causes it is the killer. So decide already who you're voting for!" Monobear pressed.

Lucien clutched his sleeves, a vein on his forehead popping out. "Shut up! We're not voting yet!"

"You dare to go against me? The god of this virtual world?!" Monobear unsheathed his claws, standing up on his throne "Do you want to die _right now_?"

"Wait, I think—I think I understand: the bear wants us to fail" Kouma said "That's why he's hurrying the vote"

"I'm not doing such thing!"

"Then let us continue! You're cheating!" Matthew accused. Monobear stared at them, growling loudly, and finally sheathed back his claws, shouting with frustration.

"Fine! Die for all I care! Go ahead!"

Kamiya crossed his arms. "We're in trouble. From a certain point of view, Thioro would be the culprit of this case. On the other hand, Alistair set up the trap. Who do we vote for?"

"Runihura stepped on the stone, Thioro is the killer" Kouma said.

"I lean more towards thinking Sir Alistair is the true culprit of this incident" Vittoria stated, the trap is the murder weapon, not the stone eye"

"How are we going to decide?" Dalia asked. For a moment nobody said anything It wasn't an easy decision, a case could be made against both of them, and voting for both wasn't an option. Then how...?

"We're forgetting something important" Azalea said "Listen, Runihura wasn't the only victim. If we clear up who killed Chrys, we'll reach the answer"

"Then let's discuss that" Elaine agreed "We have only one chance, let's use it as well as we can"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Stone Eye / Four Keys / Vase of Flowers / Map of the Cottages Area / Vase of Roses_

* * *

KOUMA: Runihura and Chrysanthe died in very different ways

KOUMA: One died from arrows, the other from lemons

LUCIEN: Everyone here knew she was allergic to lemons

LUCIEN: But did Alistair know?

LUCIEN: Would he try to kill her by covering something with lemons?

VITTORIA: It would be too much coincidence...

VITTORIA: ...for him to think she'd get anywhere close to his cabin...

VITTORIA: ...much less actually going inside.

ELAINE: Let's decide now. Who prepared what killed them?

ELAINE: Was it **_Thioro?_**

ELAINE: Was it **_Alistair?_**

ELAINE: Our lives depend on this choice!

* * *

Azalea thought carefully. As she saw it, the answer was clear. "It must have been Alistair. I don't see how Thioro would have prepared the objects that killed Chrys"

"What objects?" Sigrun tried to confirm.

"The ones that smelled like lemons: the roses!" Azalea affirmed "Chrys touched those roses and died, Lucien already proved that's possible"

"Do you think she'd touch carelessly something covered with preserver?"

". I think Chrys touched the roses by accident. What happened is..."

* * *

 _She was startled when Runihura died_

 _She wanted to kill herself_

 _She was looking for clues_

 _She hated roses_

* * *

 ** _She was startled when Runihura died_**

* * *

"I think Chrys was startled when Runihura died, and in her panic, she touched the roses with her hand. If she was near the roses when Runihura was impaled with the arrows, it'd be possible for her to grip onto the roses!"

Kamiya looked at Azalea with doubt. Even behind the thick glass of his gas mask, she could feel hesitation, distrust. "Isn't that a bit too convenient?"

"But we have proof Chrys touched the roses, proof besides the rash on her hand!"

* * *

Monobear File #3

Dried Paint

Four Keys

Lack of Blood

Allergy Rash

Thorn

Flower Preserver

Injection Wound

Vase of Flowers

Message Card

Trail of Blood

Wreath

Empty Quiver

Joanna's Testimony

Map of the Cottages Area

Tripwire

Square Imprint in Dust

Square Imprint in Blood

Crushed Bottle of Paint

Videocamera

Stone Eye

Vase of Roses

Arrows Trap

* * *

 **Thorn**

* * *

"Chrys had a thorn in the hand she used to touch the roses. It must have gotten onto her hand at that moment. That's the proof she touched the roses!"

"That...makes some sense, I guess" Kouma admitted.

"It is very unlikely Sir Thioro had anything to do with those roses. This settles it" Vittoria nodded.

"Okay, Alistair's the culprit for Chrysanthe's death, but what about Runihura? Did he accidentally kill him too, or is Thioro the killer?" Matthew reminded them "That's not answered yet"

"He's right. This didn't help at all" Kouma said "I know I said it makes sense, but—but it's not so easy, right?"

"At least we have decided Alistair's the only one who could have applied the preserver" Azalea said.

 **ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?**

Elaine flipped through her notes, thinking. Once again she had objected, it was like she and Matthew simply had to contradict her at least once per trial. Not that Azalea minded, this was good to find the truth. "So you say Alistair was the one to apply it, right?"

"Yeah, he's the only person—"

"Sorry for being insistent, Azalea, but are you completely sure about this? Because this is the cornerstone for our vote. I hope you have a way to prove Alistair could have done that. We need proof that's even possible"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Lack of Blood / Vase of Roses / Crushed Bottle of Paint / Stone Eye / Flower Preserver_

* * *

ELAINE: It's true the roses are like the weapon here

ELAINE: But you have to remember:

ELAINE: Roses didn't kill Chrysanthe

ELAINE: It was lemons

ELAINE: You could link Alistair to the roses...

ELAINE: ...but can you link him to the lemons?

ELAINE: If you can't do that...

ELAINE: ...then we can't vote for him in good conscience.

AZALEA: I can do it

AZALEA: Alistair had the chance to cover the roses with preserver

ELAINE: You have to remember

ELAINE: Alistair died around a week ago

ELAINE; Any preserver he applies...

ELAINE: ...must be **long gone** by now.

ELAINE: That's the problem with your logic.

ELAINE: Do you have an explanation for that flaw?

* * *

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Azalea said with confidence "It's possible to have applied the preserver a week ago without having to renew it" she raised a finger "The label of the flower preserver said it can last up to two weeks. That's plenty of time!"

"So Alistair could have applied the preserver like—like in the day we arrived...and it'd still be there?"

"Exactly. If Alistair placed the roses in his cottage, only he would have applied preserver as well. That's what killed Chrys, it was him trying to preserve the roses!" Saying it aloud made a pang of guilt resonate through Azalea. It had been just an accident, a stupid accident. That's what killed Chrysanthe, the events that led to she losing her cherished sister. She wanted to curse Alistair, to blame him, but she knew it wasn't like he had malicious intentions.

It had been just an accident.

"I'm fine with voting Alistair" Matthew said "Let's close this trial, okay?"

"Before that Azalea should do what she does" Dalia proposed.

"What I do?" Azalea inquired.

"You give a summary of the case and it answers everything. Will you do it again?"

It was okay to do that. Maybe it'd strengthen everyone's conviction, lead them into voting for Alistair for both incidents. Azalea took a deep breath, recalled the facts, and started narrating.

* * *

 **Climax Inference**

* * *

 _This case started little more than a week ago, back when nobody had died yet. The culprit of this case was feeling uneasy, nervous they could be killed anytime. To give themselves some peace of mind, they decided to set a trap to keep any intruders out of their room._

 _To achieve it, the culprit took several arrows from the stadium, and acquired a wooden board. Once he brought those objects to his room, he proceeded to stick the arrows onto the board, so the pointy and dangerous end would be aiming outwards. To complete the trap, they also tied a tripwire at the door, so anyone who tried to enter would trip and fall onto the arrows._

 _It's possible this wasn't enough for them. To soothe themselves a bit further, the culprit acquired roses and a vase to put them in. To ensure they'd last for a long time, they covered the roses with preserver. Maybe he was aware the preserver had lemons in its composition, or maybe they never knew. To him that meant nothing._

 _The culprit had no idea they'd die a couple days later. Their trap stayed set, like a ticking time bomb._

 _Four days ago, a group of Hostages gathered to test the environment's virtual workings. This group was composed of me, Sigrun, Kamiya, and Thioro. At some point, Thioro filled a bottle with blue paint and inserted the stone eye, making use of an error in the virtual world we are in. Just like they did with the rest of the bottles, they made the rocket bottle fly, but it didn't go like planned. The paint, the stone eye, it all worked against Thioro's idea, and crashed through the window of the culprit's cottage. The bottle exploded inside the cottage, splattering the wall with blue paint. The stone eye, freed from its plastic prison, rolled away, to the other side of the cabin._

 _Fast-forward to last night..._

 _The victims – Chrysanthe and Runihura – reunited during the night. Chrysanthe had prepared several bouquets of flowers, prepared to be placed into vases and distributed to everyone's cottages. To honor the dead, she also made wreaths. Runihura most likely wanted to help, so he received the four keys to the cabins of those who had died so far, among them the culprit. The two of them distributed the vases, until they got to the last one: the killer's cottage._

 _The trap the culprit set didn't go unnoticed. The victims noticed the tripwire and the trap, but didn't let themselves be deterred, they entered the cottage. It's not clear who moved the trap, but it's likely Runihura was the one who did it. He moved it to a side of the cottage, where it'd be less likely to hurt anyone. Meanwhile, Chrysanthe went towards the dry paint and the vase of roses, most likely attracted by the presence of flowers in the cabin. That's when tragedy struck._

 _Runihura unwittingly stepped on the stone eye Thioro's rocket bottle brought into the cottage, and fell backwards, towards the trap he had just moved. His death may have been instant...but the accidents didn't end here._

 _Startled by Runihura's sudden death, Chrysanthe touched the roses covered with flower preserver. She may have realized she had touched something that contained the allergen that'd kill her, we can't know for sure. We do know she dragged Runihura's body out of the cottage. She may have wanted to get help for him. In her hurry, she brought with her the trap, it fell while they were passing through the round empty space between the cottages. Unluckily for her, two of the cabins were empty, and the person who resided in the last one didn't hear anything of what was going on. Desperate, Chrysanthe kept dragging Runihura...until she died from having touched the flower preserver. The weight of Runihura made her fall underneath it, that's how we found the bodies in the morning._

 _And that...that is the truth about the incident. It was just an accident. And the person who unwittingly ended causing the deaths of two people...it had to be him: **Alistair Sullivan**._

* * *

Azalea's deductions were received with grim silence. It all made sense, but it was also hard to believe it had all been an accidental death. It was ridiculous. But after this long, they couldn't deny it. "Ridiculous. So ridiculous..." Sigrun muttered, looking pale.

"But that's what happened. All we have to do now is vote" Matthew said.

"Yes. I never thought I'd have to vote for someone who was a victim, but here we are. Let's go ahead and—"

"Wait" Thioro said, sounding defeated "...vote for me. It's true Alistair caused Chrysanthe's death, but Runihura's death was...that one is my fault. My actions led to his death"

"You can't say that for sure. Alistair—"

"He set the arrows, but Runihura wouldn't have slipped if I hadn't put the eye in that bottle. That was my fault" he punctuated the last few words with a finger against his podium, and demanded: "So vote for me! I'm taking responsibility for my actions. Don't hesitate!"

"You know that if you're wrong then everyone dies, right?" Matthew said.

"I know that! I'm sure I'm right. If I'm right and you guys vote for Alistair twice, we'll all die and I'll be set free. That's not what I want!"

"We're betting our lives on the line and we don't have a way to know for sure who to blame. There's no way Monobear will answer honestly" Sigrun said.

"So what? Do we just vote and hope for the best?" Kamiya didn't sound comfortable at all with that "That's not a good plan!"

"We don't have any other option. Remember everything we discussed" Azalea looked towards Monobear "Let's get to the voting part"

"Already? About time you bastards decided to vote! I have been sitting her twiddling my imaginary thumbs for like, forever!" Monobear complained, but did what they expected of him "Please vote for who you think committed the murders. As you know by now, you need to vote twice, one for each death. Let's give it everything we got!"

Azalea didn't hesitate while marking Alistair as the culprit for both deaths. After a minute, everyone had casted their votes. Monobear received all the votes, the votes got tallied, and the results got shown.

Matthew, Azalea, Elaine, Kouma, Lucien and Dalia voted for Alistair as the culprit for both deaths. Thioro, Kamiya, Sigrun and Vittoria voted for Thioro as the culprit for Runihura's death, and Alistair for Chrysanthe's death.

Monobear stared at the results, silent, his face was completely inexpressive – besides the grin he always had, but something had changed in the glint of his eyes. Azalea gulped, nervous, feeling a tingling feeling on the back of her neck. _What's taking him so long?_ "Okay, the votes have been tallied. Look at that, the majority of you voted for the one-culprit theory" More silence.

"Well? Is that right or—is it wrong?" Kouma pressed. Large drops of sweat covered Monobear's fur, he glanced at the admins standing at the door. Stripes had returned without anyone noticing. Both of them looked at the ground, without replying.

"...i-it's correct. It's correct, yup. You got the answer right! The person who k-killed both victims was Alistair Sullivan!"

"What?!" Thioro shouted, pulling from his tie in surprise so strongly he bent forward "You got that wrong, didn't you? Because the culprit was—"

"I said they got it _right_!" a tinge of panic got into Monobear's voice. The urgency got to Thioro, who nodded.

"...sorry. My bad" he looked guilty about almost having gotten everyone killed. Not even once he had any ill intentions towards anyone, but it had seemed like almost every action Thioro took during the trial would have led to everyone's death. For a moment Azalea looked at him, unsure of what to think. Had he done all that on purpose? Had his intent been to kill everyone? If so, there was only a reason she could think of:

Thioro was one of the three people the kidnappers were looking for, and he was willing to sacrifice everyone including himself.

The problem was that they had no way to know for sure. Azalea looked away, not knowing if Thioro could be trusted.

"This means nobody's going to get executed, right? You can't—you can't kill anyone who isn't a culprit!" Kouma claimed, hope seeping into her voice. Monobear rubbed his face with his paws, growling.

"I know that! So unless any of you want to volunteer for an execution, all of you get out of here already!" Some of the Hostages moved to leave the courtroom, but they all stopped when they heard Dalia:

"That's it? Two people died and we're not even going to get anything from it?"

"We can't get anything from deaths" Kouma said. Dalia shook her head.

"That's not what I mean. We should at least get information about those criminals we're supposed to be wary of. So come on, throw us a bone!" she pleaded to Monobear. The bear stared at her, looking like he had half of his mind set on jumping down from his throne and mauling Dalia's face off, but he relented. With a gesture that was far from being carefree, he started talking.

"Eh, fine. You know, those three wouldn't get to where they were unless they were really talented. Can you guess why?"

"Because they are Hope's Peak alumni?" Azalea theorized "Is that why you gave us Hope's Peak titles?"

"Maybe, maybe not" he said smugly "But guess what? Almost none of you are _that_ talented in the first place!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Despite Lucien's even tone, he looked rather offended.

"I mean almost nobody would get scouted by Hope's Peak. Guess what? Only three of you sixteen have enough talent to be students! What a surprise, right?"

Elaine hurried towards Monobear, confronting him. "Wait. If there are three, then those three could be the criminals. Why don't you focus on them?"

"Idiot! You think if we could we wouldn't be doing that already?"

"He is correct. Something must be stopping them – perhaps that those three are not the criminals they are looking for?" Vittoria wondered "Why do not you tell us which three were talented enough to be scouted?"

Monobear tapped his claws impatiently onto the arm rests of his throne, his eye glowing intensely, but he nodded. "Fine. Listen here: the following people did study at Hope's Peak academy and we borrowed their official titles to give them to them here:

Sigrun Solheim, the Former Super High School Level Enforcer! Matthew McCoy, the Former Super High School Level Engineer! And Chrysanthe Stravopoulos, the Former Super High School Level Gardener!

Only those three are alumni of Hope's Peak!"

Azalea winced when Chrysanthe's name was mentioned. Of course she'd be an alumnus of that school...her talents were remarkable. But no matter how hard Azalea tried, she couldn't remember anything about Chrysanthe ever studying there. It most likely was one of the memories the kidnappers had stolen from her.

She wasn't the only one who wasn't sure if Monobear was telling the truth. Matthew crossed his arms defensively. "I don't remember hope to Hope's Peak, ever. I haven't even been in Japan in my life!"

"Are you sure about that?" Monobear's reply was quiet, smooth "We took a lot of your memories. We know stuff you don't know. There's no doubt you were at Hope's Peak until your graduation"

"That's insane...!"

"You did not need to take our memories. It does not make any sense for you to have done that" Vittoria tried to argue.

"We know what we are doing, and let me tell you this: taking your memories was the cornerstone of our plan! How else are we supposed to—whoops!" Monobear covered his snout, mischievous "I almost said too much!"

"You totally did that on purpose!" Kouma shouted.

"So the rest of us don't have as much talent as them?" Azalea tried to confirm. It seemed relying on how talented a person was wouldn't be of any help when it was about finding the three horrible people they had to find.

"Exactly!" Monobear replied.

Kamiya glared at the bear. "That doesn't say why we were brought here! I thought it'd be related to Hope's Peak, but if only three were students there then what about the rest of us? We shouldn't be here!"

"Oh? My bad, I should have made that point a little clearer. The deal with the rest of you...you see; Delacroix-san isn't the only one who was in contact with Diavolos Avante!"

Azalea felt a chill down her spine. "What does that mean?"

"It means every single one of you was in contact with them in some way, and not unwillingly. Trust us, we got our intel from that organization's files" Monobear grinned pleasantly "Some of you studied at their schools. Others were clients of them. Others were low-level grunts, doing menial work. That's what the files said, but according to our research, it's likely the Main Board members were cleverly disguised among them – and we narrowed the search to you sixteen!"

"I think you mean us ten" Vittoria said.

"Think whatever you want. I said what I had to say, so I'm getting out of here. So long, bastards!" Monobear waved and disappeared with a loud sound, leaving confetti behind him. The Hostages, not liking the situation, started leaving the courtroom. Most of the Hostages avoided Thioro, not trusting him after the messes he caused during the trial. Almost everyone looked like they wanted nothing other than returning to their cottages and sleep, but there was one who seemed to have something in her head.

Kouma bit her lip, deep in thought. "I don't get it...could it—no, it can't be"

"A penny for your thoughts?" Azalea inquired while they were getting on the train. Kouma shook her head, but after a moment she decided to talk.

"Something the bear said is bothering me. I don't like he said—you heard him? He said 'it's likely'. That doesn't sound like he was certain – right?"

Azalea nodded. "I guess. What about that?"

"What if they are—if they're wrong? What if none of the people they want is here? Or if not everyone is here? They could have screwed up and put a lot of innocent people in danger"

The motivator quickly hid the troubled look she had. That couldn't be possible, right? Because if the kidnappers couldn't even do that right, then that'd mean innocent lives were being lost for no reason at all. It was bad enough that they were forced to kill each other, but if in the end the criminals weren't even among them...

That wasn't the only problem, though. Something about the trial kept bothering Azalea. Monobear had reacted rather strangely to the voting results. Why had he been so shaken about them? There was also the problem of Alistair's cottage. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly felt so wrong about it, but she kept feeling like there had been a contradiction, a mistake that should have changed everyone's understanding of the case, but...what was it?

Why did it feel like there was something weird going on in the mutual killing game?


	25. Intermission II

Yamaguchi struggled to hold back her tears while Hikasa and Toyotomi carried Runihura's voluminous body away, struggling to keep it from falling to the floor. She held her face in her hands, trembling a little.

She hated this. She hated having to play the role of Monobear, watching twelve innocent people – whoever they were – try to stay strong under the circumstances. She hated that Yukio had to stay among them, putting himself in danger and analyzing in person everyone inside the virtual world. She hated the three criminals who had led to the deaths of a handful of people in the killing game in the bunker.

But despite all that, she never wished for anyone's death. She was fed up with people dying, she had wanted to never see someone dead ever again, yet she had been forced to face death again. If it wasn't for the result they were seeking, to stop those three people they were looking for, she'd be trying to get away as soon as possible.

"Mika-chan...?"

Akane sat nearby, sounding sympathetic. Yamaguchi looked up, drying her tears, and tried to look like she hadn't just been about to break down. "I'm fine. I'm just having a bit of a hard time, don't worry about it"

"What do you mean I shouldn't worry about it?"

"I'm not going to stop helping you all, but...are we doing this the right way?" she asked quietly "Is this really the best way to do this?"

Akane hesitated visibly. She played with a strand of her hair, looking at the screens that showed Heavenly Resort. "No. There have to be better ways to do it. But it's not like we had any other options at this point. We either did this or those three would have caused much more trouble around the world" she watched everyone return to their cottages "Everything's calming down now...but if those three aren't caught, they'll keep the Tragedy going. We _had_ to do this"

"Did you ever think it'd go like this? This wasn't supposed to happen..."

"I know. I didn't think it'd happen" Akane awkwardly patted Yamaguchi's back "I'll ask the admin to check what happened"

Yamaguchi stood up, dusting inexistent dust off her coat. "So what are we going to do now?"

"We can't stop now. We have to continue. It's not like we have much time left. Toyotomi-kun has been in contact with the headquarters. The rumors aren't good"

"Rumors?"

"The Future Foundation is over. They'll be coming very soon to take everything left in these facilities"

Everything was going to be taken back by the higher-ups, those who were left. The Neo World program, the building, the furniture, absolutely everything had to be returned. Nobody knew exactly when they'd be coming, but they had to be quick with their plans if they wanted to be done before anyone arrived to Jabberwock Island. Yamaguchi nodded grimly. "I'll...I'll try my best to keep going with this. But just in case, we should hurry up. Is there any way we can hasten the process?"

"Alter Ego is doing everything she can do. We have done a lot of progress so far, it's only matter of time before she—" at that moment, there was a loud beep coming from the console. Akane smiled, pleased "See? She keeps working very hard! I'll check what she found out this time"

"Say hi to her for me"

"Got it. You go drink something, okay? I'll pay for it later. Take your time" with those kind words, Akane sat in front of the console and started typing. Yamaguchi watched with admiration. Akane didn't like the situation either, but she tried her best to look like she wasn't feeling the weight of their responsibilities. Even though the odds of being successful were quite low, she refused to back down.

Yamaguchi sometimes wished she could be like Akane. Maybe if she were more like Akane, she would be enduring better this mess? If only...

It wouldn't have mattered, anyway. Strong or not, they had no way to prepare for the fallout the next 24 hours would bring.

-ooooo-

Toyotomi closed the door to the infirmary, forlorn. Hikasa and him had just placed Runihura on one of the beds, setting him up for a long, long stay immobile in the infirmary. It was no secret that dying in the virtual world would end in brain death. That was a situation they had no idea how to deal with, but the consensus was that anyone who suffered brain death would be set up in the infirmary and kept there, instead of being left in the pod they were in – to avoid further damage or any danger from the rogue prototype Enoshima AI affecting the vegetative body. Nobody was sure if this was the right thing to do in that kind of situation.

"That guy was real heavy" Hikasa commented, taking deep breaths "I'm getting rusty with my weightlifting"

"You shouldn't compare him to a dead weight"

"Sorry. I still don't get it...how did this happen? I thought you had said this wouldn't happen!"

"I'm not sure either, but we can't let this stop us"

Hikasa crossed his arms. "You going to let this go without even trying to find out _why_ it happened?"

"We need to find a lead. Let's go back to the control room, we'll analyze the recordings and—"

"That may not be necessary"

That had been said by Mitsuhiko, who was approaching. It seemed he had heard what they had been saying, and had a piece of his mind to give to them. Toyotomi and Hikasa exchanged a look, unsure of what to think of the hunter approaching them like this. "What do you mean?" Toyotomi decided to get a handle of the situation.

"Someone's trying to **sabotage** us"

"No, that's not possible. We're all in this together, nobody would betray us" Hikasa immediately said, and turned to Toyotomi "This guy's lying. There has to be some other explanation"

Mitsuhiko didn't seem amused at all, pouting a bit but disguising it quickly "Do you realize that you're pretty much accusing me of trying to betray you?"

"That's not what I mean, what I mean is—"

"Okay, that's enough" Toyotomi glared at Hikasa and Mitsuhiko authoritatively, waiting for them to settle down and step away from each other before giving Mitsuhiko his undivided attention "I guess you have reasons to think that?"

"I do, but I think you have the wrong idea. It's like Hikasa-san said, we're all together in this, so of course the saboteur is someone who isn't among us six"

"That's impossible, nobody on this island has any reason to sabotage us" Hikasa said.

"I'm talking about a Main Board member. I think we either didn't catch one, or they managed to sneak an accomplice onto this island before we sent them all into the Neo World Program"

Toyotomi wanted to deny the possibility, but he couldn't. That'd explain so much... "...I suppose that's possible, but without proof—"

"If there's an intruder we should be able to see them through the security cameras" Hikasa noted, but Mitsuhiko shook his head.

"I already checked them, and there was nothing. This intruder is clever, she avoided the cameras and detection for the most part"

"Wait...she?" Toyotomi inquired. Mitsuhiko's hand went to his head, he looked unsure of how to word what he was going to say, but it wasn't like staying silent was an option here.

"I saw the intruder. It's a woman, around forty or fifty years old. I think it's Valkyrie"

"We can't have missed Valkyrie, she's the most dangerous one among those three" Hikasa bit his thumb "If we missed her, we're all in danger!" He was right, and Toyotomi knew it. For a moment he felt like a big weight fell into the pit of his stomach, had they made a huge mistake somehow? How could they have missed Valkyrie and trapped one more innocent person than intended?!

Mitsuhiko lowered his voice, looking in direction to the room where the virtual room machines. "One thing more...you can't tell Akane about this. Please, don't tell her"

"We need to tell her, she's our partner" Hikasa said.

"I don't think this is the kind of thing Akane should hear about" Mitsuhiko said delicately. Toyotomi, unsure where this was going, tried to assess the situation.

"Why shouldn't we tell her?"

"Because I think she finding out who may be sabotaging our work will hurt her"

Not understanding, Toyotomi tried to get more details. "What do you mean? I don't get it"

Mitsuhiko again looked in direction of where Akane was likely to be. "I saw the saboteur's face for a moment. It's a face I saw very recently – just a couple days ago, in a photo Akane showed me"

"Say it straight! So you think Akane knows the saboteur?"

"Yes" Mitsuhiko seemed sorry "I hope I'm mistaken, but...

...Valkyrie may be Akane's mother"

-ooooo-

Junko Enoshima relished in the possibility something wouldn't go according to plan, but there was a limit to the elation she usually felt. Right now she was feeling frustrated, not jubilant. She moved a hand in front of her face, testing just how much control she had over the body she was inhabiting. She had managed to take over the body, she could feel this unfortunate person's consciousness pushed aside and reducing little by little. In just matter of hours, her control would be absolute, the person whose body she had invaded soon would cease to exist. She was sure she'd be able to act like them, make it look like nothing was wrong. She was triumphing.

So why the hell the other two copies of her hadn't met with her?

Well, she supposed it was no surprise one met with her – it's hard to go anywhere when you're dead. But the other one? Where had she gone?

There was a possibility she couldn't ignore: that the opposite had happened. Instead of Junko taking over someone's mind, the host's consciousness managed to overpower and get rid of the AI. But how would that happen? There had to be some sort of change, some way that led to a drastic change in mentality. She wasn't stupid, she had seen what had happened, but she had underestimated how much the stay so far at the Heavenly Resort had strengthened the host of that other copy. "By all means, it doesn't make any sense" she said, pretending she had glasses one.

Note to herself: get glasses and other props. It was hard to do the other facets of her personality without props.

Junko looked up to the sky, wondering if the kidnappers were having fun watching the game they were making. There were a few pointers she'd like to give them for maximum despair, because so far it was rather tepid! Weak! The amount of despair in the air was frustratingly low, she could pretty much see the carrot and stick hanging in front of her! If there wasn't some bona fide despair soon, she'd show them all what despair truly meant!

"Twelve hours. We'll give you twelve hours, peasants...and then you shall let us tear this place apart!" she proclaimed to nobody, a fake accent slipping in her voice. She looked at the clock around her wrist. 3:00 AM

She'd make her move at 3:00 PM unless something astonishingly good, incredibly filled with despair happened before that hour.

The next 24 hours were guaranteed to be _wonderful_!

* * *

 **The story is going into its second half now. It feels so strange to know the end of this trilogy is getting closer and closer.**

 **Thank you for your support during all this time.**


	26. Chapter 4: Atonement

When Azalea returned to her room she immediately threw herself on her bed. She had managed to be stable enough during the trial to be helpful and solve the latest incident, but now that it was done and she returned to her room, she finally was at liberty of crying and mourning. She didn't wail or gnash her teeth, her mourning was subdued. With a languid movement, she took out her cardigan and tossed it aside, feeling constricted by it. The card that came with Chrysanthe's bouquet of azaleas fell from the pocket.

 _Don't worry about me. I'll be okay._

 _-Chrysanthe_

"Yeah, right, you liar" Azalea mumbled, putting the card on the table beside her bed. So much for being okay. What frustrated Azalea the most was that Chrysanthe's death could have been easily avoided. All she'd have needed to do was not touch the roses. Fate had played a dirty trick, making her sister grab the roses because Runihura's untimely death startled her. The thought made Azalea scowl a little. Untimely? Was that a way to think about the death of another human being, someone who had treated Azalea and Chrysanthe well? She felt disgusted with herself, thinking of Runihura as less important than Chrysanthe, but...but she couldn't stop thinking like that.

Azalea turned on her bed, facing the wall. Just thinking about deaths drained her of any will to do anything. She wasn't crying, she just felt like not doing anything. Her thoughts wandered to all the years she spent with Chrysanthe. The times she helped Chrysanthe with her homework, the flowers Chrysanthe liked to give everyone in the family during the holidays, the time Azalea broke up with her first boyfriend and spent the night crying on Chrysanthe's shoulder...she missed her. Azalea knew she'd miss Chrysanthe for the rest of her life. Azalea buried her face in her pillow, whimpering. The tears had finally arrived.

She didn't know how long she spent crying on her pillow. At some point her eyes started hurting, so she looked up, putting her chin on the wet fabric of the pillowcase, staring forward without really seeing anything. Now what? What did she have to do now? Want it or not, she was still kidnapped and in middle of a killing game. Even though she didn't plan to kill anyone, she was aware it was possible for her to be a victim. She was more aware of that now, more than ever.

Well, whatever she could do, she didn't want to do anything today. All she wanted was to stay in her cottage, staring at the ceiling, doing nothing. Just...be alone for a while.

Because the universe couldn't let her have a moment of peace, someone knocked at the door right at that moment. Azalea glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 2:00 PM, around three hours since the trial had ended. After putting her cardigan back on and trying to make herself way less awful than she felt, she went to the door and opened it, looking outside.

It was Vittoria and Elaine. Vittoria was carrying a small basket, while Elaine had plates and bottle of something. Vittoria smiled apologetically. "You missed lunch, Lady Azalea. How are you feeling?"

"...take a guess" Azalea said.

"I told you she'd be feeling awful" Elaine said to Vittoria, looking uncomfortable. Vittoria nodded, as if she had expected such reply from the beginning.

"Lady Azalea, I know you are in turmoil and therefore you are not in the best emotional state, but you can not starve yourself. Here we brought you your lunch"

"I'd like to be alone"

"Vittoria..." Elaine's voice hinted she wanted to leave, but Vittoria shook her head, holding the door with her hand so Azalea wouldn't close it.

"I apologize, but we insist. It is for your own good" she sounded kinder "I understand how you feel. I may have lost an uncle, but when I found out he was dead...I felt like I had lost a piece of myself. I wanted to sit in a hole and do nothing...just let the world spin and forget about everything" Azalea didn't reply, she just looked to the floor, so Vittoria continued "But someone came to help me. He is my best friend; he saw I was in grief. He was less forceful than I am being here, but I think the end result will be the same"

"What are you trying to do?" Azalea inquired quietly.

"I want to show you you are not alone"

Something about that resonated in Azalea. She looked up, glancing at Elaine. The writer pretended to adjust her glasses, hiding her face behind her hand. "I haven't lost anyone close to me, but you're my friend and therefore you deserve my support. I want to help you too"

"Do you understand? Please, allow us to keep you company"

Azalea bit her lip, rocking the door back and forth without making an effort to close it. For a moment she considered telling them to scram, to leave her alone to grieve, but there was something nice about knowing her friends were willing to hold her back. Chrysanthe wouldn't be able to anymore, but maybe she wouldn't be as lonely as she thought she'd be. Wordlessly, Azalea fully opened the door and went to her bed, sitting on the mattress. She didn't look at the girls while they entered, sitting on the floor.

"How're you feeling?" Elaine asked the usual question again, hoping for a different answer. Azalea hesitated but she answered.

"Awful. I'm having a hard time...I almost can't believe Chrys won't be around anymore. I already miss her"

Vittoria took out the food they had brought. "How about you tell us a tale of your childhood? Let is remember Lady Chrysanthe as you knew her, not as we found her"

Azalea thought for a moment. There was a moment that came to mind. It hadn't seemed as significant back then, but now...it was obvious to her it helped shape Chrysanthe into the person she had been in the present. "Chrys always liked plants, but she wasn't very good when she started. You know how in grade school you had to grow peas in a cup? She couldn't get the peas to grow. She was so frustrated she threw a tantrum" Azalea smiled wistfully "She spent one hour yelling at the peas to stop messing around and start growing already"

"It's weird to hear a gardener that'd study at Hope's Peak had trouble with peas" Elaine commented.

"Nobody was born being perfect. That was just her beginnings" Vittoria said, pouring a lot of rice in Azalea's plate.

"She started researching everything she could about growing small plants. She went out, managed to buy some mulch, took the plant onto the sunlight and shade with dedication...I don't think she had been so invested in something as she was in those peas" Azalea closed her eyes, remembering those times. Pangs of sorrow filled her, but at the same time she felt kind of happy, talking about Chrysanthe "When it was time to take the peas, a couple months later, hers were the only peas that had grown and blossomed"

"She must have been very proud of herself"

"She was. I can't imagine Chrys not being a gardener" Azalea ate some of her lunch, feeling a bit drained. She felt a bit better, but it wasn't like she was cheered up yet. The three girls ate lunch in silence for a while, until Elaine broke the silence.

"I don't know what I'd do if Matthew died. I don't remember why he decided to be an engineer, but there's something I remember"

"Now that I think about it...are you the older or the younger sibling?"

"I'm the younger one. So, I have a couple books published, but I almost gave up at the beginning. I had sent my first book to a few agents, but all of them rejected it. Matthew was the only one who knew about my book, so he once asked me how it was going. I told him it had been rejected. He was so upset he took my book and promised me he'd find a good agent for me"

"So he did find one" Vittoria said.

"He did find one! It took him a long while, but he found an agent willing to give this a try. Long story short, it's thanks to him I'm a successful writer" Elaine's face lit up, she sounded genuinely fond of her brother "I owe him a lot"

"Do you have a sibling, Vittoria?" Azalea asked. She shook her head.

"No, I am an only child. I did not have someone to support me – besides my uncle, that is. But the generational gap was there, I was grateful to him but there were matters I felt I could not talk with him. Then one day I was accused of murder"

"Did you kill someone?"

"I did not. It was a false charge. A very brave attorney cleared my name – but most people continued believing I had committed that murder, and that I had gotten away because of my status and power as the second in charge in a global criminal organization. No matter how much I tried to say I had not done it, nobody believed me" she frowned "That is why I left DeeEy and ran away, I left my uncle behind"

"That's the uncle who died, right?"

"That is correct" she stared deep into her rice "...I did not even have the chance to apologize..."

Not wanting the mood to return to the grim mood from before, Azalea hurried to say what she wanted to say from a while ago. "Elaine, Vittoria...thank you. For coming here. I..." she managed to smile a bit "I'm feeling better now"

"We will support you all the way. Have my sincere condolences, but do not let your grief tie you down" Vittoria advised.

Elaine extended a hand. "Give me your hand. Let's go outside all together"

"I can walk by myself, Elaine" Azalea said, but squeezed Elaine's hand and stood up with her help. Vittoria patted their shoulders, opening the door.

"Let us go and see everyone. Surely they will be overjoyed to see you—"

The relatively cheerful atmosphere was shattered when Monobear's voice echoed everywhere. Azalea froze, shuddering a bit, and listened. "Um, I know it's sudden, but you all must come to the plaza immediately. We have to talk" he didn't give any further instructions. The girls looked at each other, confused.

"What the...what does he want now?" Elaine sounded like she'd have preferred to eat glass than listen to another word from Monobear.

"Not even five hours have passed since the trial!" Azalea exclaimed.

"Yet we can not defy Monobear. We will have to listen and find out what he wants. I am sorry this is your welcome, Lady Azalea"

"It's not your fault, don't worry" Azalea sighed, passing her hands over her face "That bear is why we can't have nice things...someday I'm going to tear his head off, seriously"

"Get in line, half of us already called dibs" Elaine descended the stairs of the porch, leading the small group towards the plaza. Monobear was already waiting, sitting on the base of the statues, staring into the distance as if he was deep in thought. Azalea could feel the other Hostages' stares. Did they really expect her to stay locked in her cottage forever? It was true she didn't want to get out...

...they were right to think that could happen.

Once everyone was gathered in front of the statues, Monobear stood up, crossing his arms and looking at them with what seemed like...uncertainty. "Geez, look lively, everyone! You look like someone killed your family and your puppy at the same time!"

"Can't we get this over with?" Azalea demanded tiredly. Monobear sighed theatrically, all his energy vanishing.

"Aaaaw...look at that...I'm so hated I better go eat worms...and here I was being all thoughtful"

"When he says that I get chills..." Dalia murmured, hugging herself. Having heard her, Monobear tilted his head.

"Oh? You don't trust little ol' me? Okay, I get it, we started with the wrong foot, what with the whole killing game thing. That's why I'm going to help you end this all! And before you ask that, I'll tell you exactly how: by speeding this game even more!"

"Even more?!" Lucien made a face of disgust.

"Exactly! I know it has been just four hours since the last trial ended, but it's time for a new motive! And the theme this time is...answers. Don't you all have something you'd like to know? Something you have wanted to find out for a long time?

What if I told you we can give you the answers you're seeking?"

"You're lying. You can't prove anything" Matthew said, glaring at the bear.

"Oh, we can prove it. We can give you all the evidence you want. In fact, to make it even sweeter...we'll give you the answers without asking for a murder first!" _Wait...what?_

"You can not be serious" Vittoria murmured.

"I'm beary serious, Delacroix-san, _beary_ serious. Of course, this won't be free...once I tell you what you want to know, you must kill someone in less than two hours...or else we will erase your memories again. We'll make you forget what you found out.

So...in other words: if you want to keep the knowledge you gained, you must kill someone!"

"You have to be kidding...there's no knowledge that could be worth killing one of us" Thioro crossed his arms "Hell, there'd be no way to know if whatever you have to say is true"

"I told you we can prove whatever we answer! Geez, you sure are very stupid, for a detective!" the bear seemed frustrated, Azalea wasn't sure if he was pretending that or if he truly was angry now "Whatever! I said my piece. You all know what to do, I'll be at my office, so just hurry up so we can end this game soon!" with that, he threw a small capsule onto the ground, filling the area surrounding the statues with smoke.

"He's gone!" Matthew gasped. Kouma turned him a bit to the right.

"No, he's over there" she pointed at where Monobear was waddling away. "Who does that bear think he's fooling? You'd have to be—you'd have to be stupid to fall for this motive"

"Then someone will fall for it. You can't underestimate human stupidity, especially when it's about finding answers" Elaine said.

"Do you believe someone will try to take the motive?" Vittoria raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I think. Do you know what's the worst part? That you'd have to be very gullible to believe a word of what Monobear will say. He says he can prove it, but this is a virtual world: he'd be able to produce literally anything he wants" she emphasized the last few words for everyone "Don't believe anything he says!"

"I agree with Elaine on that one. There's no reason to even approach him" Lucien said.

Pleased, Elaine's demeanor seemed to soften, she continued to the next topic of discussion she could think. "There's also the matter of Monobear starting to worry and wanting us to hurry up. What could be happening outside in the real world?"

"There's a chance law enforcement agents are close to catching them" Thioro theorized "Any criminal would try to escape, but they can't just leave us trapped in this virtual world. They haven't obtained yet what they want"

"It's not like we can find out anytime soon" Azalea said, her voice dry and blunt. Monobear giving a motive had soured her mood. So much for leaving my cottage to talk with people. Not many seemed to be in mood of talking, anyway. Most of the Hostages left in pairs to spread throughout the resort. Thioro was one of the few that didn't have anyone to spend time with. Were people distrustful of him after everything that happened during the third trial? He just shook his head, sighing, and left in direction of the cottages, probably intending to stay in his room. Sigrun was another person everyone had left alone.

It was a bit strange to see Sigrun alone. Before being revealed as the SHSL Enforcer, she had been accepted by everyone, but now it seemed people were avoiding her. Sigrun took out her violin, tensing the strings and looking like she didn't mind being left alone, but behind her glasses Azalea noted there was a deep feeling of loneliness in Sigrun's eyes. Azalea didn't notice she was approaching until she stood beside Sigrun. "Sigrun...?"

Sigrun's fingers curled a bit, she didn't look at Azalea. "How are you feeling, Azalea? I'm sorry about what happened to your sister" she sounded...sincere.

"Has someone been giving you a hard time?"

Something about Azalea's tone pissed Sigrun off. She took out the bow for her violin, tapping Azalea on the front of the head with it. "Shut up!" she glared, her eyes burning with repressed rage behind her glasses "I bet you're secretly glad about what happened. 'Oh, that's splendid! A dangerous person was revealed in front of everyone. Now we don't have to worry about her killing all of us!'"

"Joanna, I didn't—"

"My name is Sigrun, Azalea. You already used it once, use it all the time now" her mouth formed a thin line "May as well get used to hearing my real name, since everybody knows it now"

"I'm not happy about anything, Sigrun. I mean it, if there's someone bothering you about this, I could try to see what's wrong and...well..." She'd do something. Most likely talk and try to convince them to leave Sigrun alone. Sigrun calmed down a bit, intertwining her fingers and holding them in front of her chest.

"Thanks, but I think that won't change anything. I was there during the trial, Azalea. I saw how half of the people here tried to blame the murders on me with almost no evidence. Clearly just knowing what I'm capable of turned many of you against me"

"That's just because arrows were used. You're still our friend"

"I'd like to believe that" she closed her eyes "I was rather glad I had been given a title different to the one Hope's Peak had assigned me. I don't know why an old alias was used instead of my real name, but I accepted that. Perhaps it'd have been better if I had revealed from the beginning my true talent and what it entailed? It's too late to change that, though" she opened her eyes "I'll be frank with you, Azalea. I have no intention of getting out of here at the cost of all of your lives. I have no qualms about hurting people and committing murder, but I don't kill people indiscriminately, much less...those who I consider friends. Or considered. Friendship is a two-way street"

There was an awkward silence for a moment. It was hard to know what was the right thing to say to Sigrun, who was clearly hurting and suspicious of everyone. Still...she had to try, to at least give Sigrun a show of support. That was why Azalea extended a hand. "I still consider you a friend. You can be sure you still have a friend here, even if it's just me"

Sigrun's mouth opened a bit, she looked at a loss of what to say, but after a moment she took off her gloves and grasped Azalea's hand with both hands – with bare hands. "Azalea, you...this is the first time I feel motivated by something you said. Thank you. Thank you very much"

"…that was a bit rude, Sigrun"

The corners of Sigrun's mouth twitched upwards. "I didn't mean to insult you, Miss Motivator. It's just that I don't want to be feared, so…I'm glad you don't fear me. Thanks" Soothed, the enforcer walked away, with a bounce in her step. Azalea couldn't help but smile at Sigrun's newfound cheerfulness. _She_ can _be violent and have killed people before, but…I think she's a good person_. Could someone be a good person yet having caused as much mayhem as Sigrun has?

Azalea wanted to believe Sigrun could. Looking up to the sky, the motivator sighed, feeling content despite the death of her sister. Vittoria and Elaine were right…she couldn't stay cooped in her cottage. There'd be time later to give Chrysanthe a proper sendoff. Right now, everyone else needed her. For their sake – and her own sake as well – she had to stay strong. "This is what Chrys would have wanted, right?" she said to nobody, looking at the blue sky.

There were a couple things to do. She had to check if there was a new building available – the largest building. There was only one building unopened, so it was to be expected that'd be available now. Besides, she also needed to check onto the others, talk with them a bit.

Monobear's motive was completely unimportant for her, so she knew she'd resist the temptation of approaching him, of asking a question. Even if there was something she wanted to ask, she would never kill someone to keep those memories. It was unfortunate the same couldn't be said about everyone…the problem was knowing which ones would yield to temptation.

 _Let's see…who should I talk with?_


	27. Chapter 4: Atonement II

"Sigrun, wait!" Azalea called out. The enforcer turned around, brushing some face away from her face.

"Yes? Do you need something?"

Azalea opened her arms a bit. "I want to spend some time with you, that's all. And...uh..." she showed a tense smile "I'm also a bit curious about why you decided to work as an enforcer"

Sigrun tilted her head, tapping her cheek with the violin bow, and nodded slowly. "That's okay. Your company would be nice. Do you want a drink?" That was how Sigrun and Azalea found themselves sitting at the diner, each one with a tall glass of lemonade. Sigrun pushed the glass towards Azalea, she looked rather content. "Here you go. I thought you'd prefer it to be fresh instead of the prepackaged stuff, so I made this for us"

"Thanks, Sigrun" Azalea sipped the lemonade, humming "You know, if you hadn't revealed yourself at the trial and aim at us with your crossbow, I wouldn't have ever thought you were an enforcer"

"That's good to know. In my line of job, it's convenient if people can't catch onto who you are. I deal with criminals no matter what side I'm on, sometimes as their ally, sometimes as their enemy"

"What does an enforcer do?"

Sigrun touched the screws of the table with a finger, trying to find the right words to say "Society has rules, and those in charge of getting people to follow those rules are the police. You could say they're enforcers. Sometimes I'm on their side. Bounty hunting, looking for fugitives, disabling troublesome criminals..." she looked at Azalea from over her glasses "I once took part of a coup d'Etat. This violin of mine shot the second most powerful person in a dictatorship, straight through the heart"

It was clear Sigrun was rather proud of her achievements, but to Azalea it was kind of creepy to hear a friend talk about hunting fugitives and shooting dictators. She smiled a bit tensely, nodding. "And when you're on the bad side?"

"Criminal organizations, mafias and yakuzas have their own rules. You can think of them as smaller societies inside our society. As you can imagine, in those cases my role can get bloodier" she emphasized that, hitting the surface of the table with her finger "Those people don't take you seriously if you don't make clear you're not playing around. I have trained myself in a variety of subduing methods...and killing methods, too"

"Had you ever heard of Diavolos Avante?"

"Certainly, I had. Their leader hired my services from time to time, mostly to ensure there were no dissidents. He values loyalty over everything. I think it's partly thanks to me that everyone in the organization were devoted to that man" her expression darkened "Except for those in the Main Board, apparently. He never realized traitors were closer than he thought"

Azalea gulped down the last of her lemonade, sighing. "Doesn't it feel weird to work for the police and the government, and then work for criminals?"

"No, not really. The money has the same color and value no matter where it comes from"

"...is that your motivation? Cash?"

Sigrun shrugged, indifferent. "Sure. I get paid very generously. At first the reason was different, but the more time passed, the more I cared about the money"

Hoping for a motivation different than money, Azalea pounced on part of that reply. "At first? Why did you start being an enforcer?"

"To defy my parents" she said "I think you can agree an enforcer who hurts people and gets in danger is rather different from the demure and classy person my parents wanted me to be"

"Do they know about what you do for a living?"

"Of course. I can't defy them if they're not aware of my actions. It was a big success: I was disowned" Sigrun smiled warmly, looking almost smug "They don't want to see me ever again"

"Oh gosh...I'm sorry to hear that, Sigrun"

"Don't be sorry. That's what I wanted. I'm not part of the Solheim family anymore, and that's good" her smile was gone "You have no idea how suffocating they could be. Everything I did during my childhood was done for their own satisfaction, not mine. To them I was no more than a puppet, like a doll for them to make into their perfect socialite—"

"Are you sure?"

"They said it themselves, Azalea!" Sigrun shouted "That was the last straw! They told me the only reason I was born was because they wanted someone to continue the family's works! They don't realize it, that nepotism and haughty jackassery were what the Solheim family was known for!

And now look at me, I'm finally free of them, and I'd never want to return"

For a moment Azalea didn't reply. The vehemence in Sigrun's statement had caught her off-guard. Not seeing any other option, she decided to apologize. "I'm sorry, Sigrun, I had no idea..."

"It's okay. But I'd like you to never mention my parents or my family ever again. I don't want to talk about that topic anymore" Sigrun stood up with some coldness, grabbing the case of her violin "Thank you for spending time with me, Azalea, but I should go explore a bit" she nodded "See you later" and she exited the diner. _I feel like I screwed up._ Still, it was nice to know a bit more about Sigrun's past, so Azalea didn't regret asking her anything.

"I better get going, there's a place I need to check" she said aloud, leaving the glasses on the table.

-ooooo-

The last building was the largest of the bunch. Its marble walls were covered with windows, most of them at ground level, although there were others that were high in the air. Azalea flexed her fingers, a bit giddy from her hunger for discoveries. Should she be so elated about something so simple? Maybe not, but she enjoyed examining the new places. Azalea placed her fingers on the windowsill, took a deep breath, and tried to open it. "Up you go—hgrgh!" she grunted, not having expected the window to stay closed. She pushed upwards a few more times but the window didn't budge. "We're off to a bad start" she declared. She had been about to walk away when Dalia opened the window from inside.

"Did you almost pop a blood vessel?" Dalia asked snidely. Azalea glared at her.

"I'm not that weak, thank you very much. The window was stuck"

"It's not that it was stuck. These windows can only be opened from the inside" Dalia informed "But that's not the weirdest part of this place. Did you enter yet?" when Azalea shook her head, Dalia stepped away from the window "Come inside. You'll like this place"

Curious, Azalea located the large double doors and entered the building. She had barely stepped inside when she stopped, befuddled. "What the hell is this…?"

It was as if someone had mashed together three different buildings. The inside was a long space, without any walls besides the four outer walls. The area closest to the entrance door was a pharmacy. There was a counter, there were shelves lining the walls, bottles of medicine filling those cabinets and shelves. Dalia approached the shelf, reading the labels on the bottles. "Looks like this first part is a pharmacy. I recognize some of this stuff"

"Should there be medicine so readily available?"

"I dunno. Can we even get sick in a virtual world?" Dalia opened one of the bottles and looked at the pills inside "This looks like the real deal...no surprise there, I guess"

"Does anything look poisonous?"

"I know about some poisons, but only about those that can poison ecosystems" in other words: she had no idea. _I suppose that doesn't matter. Almost all medicines are dangerous if you overdose._

That wasn't the only place in the building. Next was...Azalea wasn't sure what it was. The tiled floor of the pharmacy turned into concrete, the smooth walls transformed into steel plaques. This section wasn't even that long, just a few meters long, but it was rather dangerous. It looked like someone had emptied a whole armory there. Axes, swords, daggers, lots of weapons covered the floor. Some of the weapons were even phasing through the floor and walls, as if it hadn't rendered properly. Sigrun was over there, trying to pull out a sword from the floor. "It's stuck. I don't think anyone can pull out anything that's embedded into the stone"

"Why's there so many weapons here?"

"I guess the admins mashed a pharmacy and an armory together…and they did it badly" she frowned at the stuck weapons, disapproving "They did a _very_ bad job"

"You'd think the admins would be able to make a new building without screwing up" Dalia said.

"Maybe they're not used to this system?"

"You think the kidnappers would place us in a virtual world they don't even know how to use?" Sigrun sounded skeptical "They'd have to be idiots to do that"

"It's a guess as good as any!"

"So…the last part of this building is like that because the admins were too useless to make it right?" Azalea walked onto the third part of the new building, concrete turning into planks of wood. The walls gradually transformed from steel to plaster, and there was a large neon sign embedded into the wall. It wasn't too difficult to distinguish what it said, even though parts of it were sunken and hidden by the plaster.

"Titty Typhoon?" Kouma read, having examined the place. She had just gotten off the stage in the back.

"I think it's a reference to an old movie. It was a stripper club—"

"A nightclub…I think" Azalea corrected "Mom liked to watch old foreign movies, I remember this in one of them"

"Okay, this is a music club" Kouma pointed forward, at the far end of the building "That over there is the stage. I already checked it all over, there's nothing useful there"

"I see speakers on the stage, and there are controls for the lights above us" Sigrun said, looking up. The light baton was rather high in the air, it was impossible for anyone to come even close to it – at least from they were standing now. Directly to the side of the lighting baton there was a catwalk. "Look for a way to get up there"

"Over here!" Dalia shouted from a side. Indeed, there was a series of metallic stairs, resembling a fire escape, going high towards the ceiling and branching into the catwalk that led to the lighting baton "Someone should go check that…I can't do it. I'm afraid of heights"

Azalea volunteered to do it, even though she wasn't that confident about her own resistance to heights. Gripping the handrail a bit rougher than people usually do, she ascended the stairs, reaching the ceiling, almost being able to touch it with her head. Behind her, Kouma ascended too, looking fearless. "Alright! Alright…this isn't so bad!" Azalea looked down, it'd be a nasty fall if she fell down "We're doing just peachy! Right, Kouma?"

"Uh, Azalea, your legs are trembling"

"That must be your imagination" the motivator approached what seemed to be the control for the lighting baton. Numerous spotlights, placed at the end of steel rods, would shine onto the stage if they were on. Azalea pressed a few buttons in the control panel, moving rods up and down, changing the position of the spotlights and making some turn into other colors "I think I understand how this works"

"What's this for?" Kouma asked, taking a remote from the side of the panel. It had a lot of buttons, and pressing them did the same actions than the buttons on the panel.

"I guess that's to control the lighting baton from the floor, so you don't have to stay up here" Azalea stepped away from the panel "Let's go down, I think there's nothing else to see up here"

It didn't take long for Kouma and Azalea to return to the ground. Once Azalea sat on the floor, relieved of not being so high up, she looked at the rest of the girls. "So this is once another useless building?"

"I think it is. The only other door here leads to a small storage with musical instruments" Dalia informed.

"Then we're done here. We should tell everyone what we found here, even if..." Azalea looked at the weapons strewn all over the floor and the walls of the second part of the new building "...there's a bunch of weapons here"

"Yes, these are a problem. Most of the weapons are stuck and unusable, but a few can be taken" Sigrun said, finding a large spear on the floor. Somehow, she lifted the heavy weapon with ease, and plunged it onto the floor.

"They'll find them anyway" it wasn't like they could block the entrance to the building or anything like that. All they could do is hope for the best and pray nobody took any of the available weapons. _...someone will be killed by one of these things. I can see it coming a mile away._

-ooooo-

As expected, nobody was happy to hear about the cache of weapons that was at anyone's reach. Azalea informed everyone about what was found at the new building, emphasizing how most of the weapons were unusable. She also omitted the fact there were a lot of medicines and potentially poisonous liquids available. Once she was done with her report, Vittoria cleared her throat and stood beside Azalea, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you for informing us, Lady Azalea. Your help was appreciated"

"I can't believe nobody else found anything! Is that building all that's new?" Lucien whined, sinking into his seat "It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't because now there's a whole lot of stuff to kill each other with"

Dalia didn't seem worried. "People so far have killed with less obvious weapons. If you're truly determined to kill, you can do it with pretty much anything, even with your own hands"

"So all these new weapons don't change anything?" Matthew tried to understand what she was saying.

"Exactly. We're still all in danger, and Monobear's motive isn't helping"

Lucien scowled, looking like he sucked a raw lemon. "That doesn't matter. Who'd fall for that motive? You'd have to literally seek for Monobear to be tempted"

"Lucien is right! It's not like Monobear threatened us or anything like that, he's just sitting at his office waiting for someone to approach him!"

"Um...how do you know that?" Thioro asked, slowly raising one eyebrow with suspicion. Caught off-guard, Dalia's face turned a rather ugly puce color while she replied.

"Ah, that, uh...maybe I did...maybe I stayed around, just watching, just in case—"

Lucien had no patience for the ecologist to beat around the bush. He crossed his arms over the table. "You went to see him"

"So what if I did? That was hours ago, and I didn't kill anyone. I don't even remember what I asked!"

"But you _do_ remember going to see the bear...interesting" Lucien's eyes seemed much sharper for an instant, but he looked away, hiding what may have been an epiphany.

Azalea stood up with momentary a look of distrust at Dalia. While the ecologist blinked, not having expected such expression, Azalea gestured towards her. "We can't let ourselves be caught so easily by the motive, even if it's tempting. If you go meet with Monobear, the motive could ensnare someone here, like it has happened before!"

"It's not like we can police everyone or anything like that. The only people here who can do that are—the only ones who'd know Matthew and Kamiya, since they're staying with each other" Kouma pointed out. The detective raised his head as if that had been addressed to him. His eyes opened with recognition, he snapped his fingers a few times.

"Right, that reminds me...how about I replace you, Matthew?"

"What do you mean?" Matthew asked.

"You have been watching Kamiya for a few days already. How about you let someone else do it and you rest for the next few days?"

"Oh, thank you—"

"Absolutely not!" Sigrun shouted "You're not going to stay with the murderer!"

"Quite rich of _you_ , calling other people 'murderer'" Kamiya huffed. "And I didn't kill anyone"

"You pushed Khotso to kill. That's as if you killed Aleksey yourself"

Thioro smiled pleasantly, thinking this was a point in his favor. "You may be right about that, so that's why a detective is better qualified to watch over the suspect"

"Frankly, after how you behaved during the last trial, I do not think you deserve any of our trust" Vittoria said bluntly, glaring at Thioro. The detective's mouth opened, but no words came out of it "You almost got us all killed. We _all_ would have died, since the culprit was already dead and therefore there would not have been a winner"

"It's not like I did that on purpose!"

"How can we know that?" Vittoria's reply was curt, almost venomous "From what I know about the Main Board, they are the kind of person that would be hateful enough to try to kill all of us, even at the cost of their own life"

"I suppose that's something we have to consider, and Thioro did almost lead us astray a few times during the trial" Dalia counted with her fingers "He accused Sigrun and revealed her real identity to all of us. He tried to hide information when he thought it'd lead to him being accused. He also tried to get us to vote for him, which would have ended in all of our deaths" She lowered her hand "We can't trust him"

"None of that was—I thought my logic was correct! Is that really so bad? I'm a detective, I follow the logic I see!"

"If your logic almost ended with all of us dead, then maybe you're much worse of a detective than you want to admit" Elaine said, smirking. Was she enjoying Thioro's increasingly disturbed look?

"Now that I think about it, he did wrongly accuse Chrysanthe during the first trial" Matthew said.

"But he was right during the second trial, there was an accomplice and he did kind of help us catch Khotso" Sigrun said.

"One out of three trials he did his job correctly. You know 33% is not a good success percentage, right?" Elaine countered, hiding her eyes with the reflection of the light on her glasses.

"Pardon my bluntness, Thioro, but you're a _lousy_ detective" Vittoria finished, looking at Thioro with a bit of pity. Pretty much nobody believed in his skills, Vittoria had joined in the emasculation despite her generally pleasant personality, and Azalea never tried to stop everyone from ganging up on him. That meant they all agreed, didn't it? They all thought he was useless. Thioro stood up, looking rather upset.

"I see. Okay, Matthew, you'll continue being Kamiya's caretaker" he said rather quickly before he left. Azalea wasn't sure, but he looked like he was about to cry. What everyone said, everyone's distrust of him, it seemed to have cut deep inside him, hurting his feelings and his pride. He truly had been trying to help them the best he could!

...or...perhaps Thioro was acting right now? Azalea couldn't discard that possibility. Still...when she thought about it, Thioro was generally a big help. He was observant most of the time, he examined the bodies and the evidence dutifully, and most of his deductions during the trials were correct. Sure, there were times when she and Thioro's opinions clashed, and she almost always was on the right side of the matter, but at least during those times he could back his theories and opinions with proof and logic, even if it was misguided.

 _I have to go see him later._

"You're a better detective than that guy, Azalea. Are you sure you're not the person who should have received the SHSL Detective title?" Matthew said while the group separated. All Azalea did was glare at him. Matthew raised his hands defensively "I was just trying to give you a compliment"

"Next time please don't demean one of our friends while you compliment me" Azalea said, somehow managing to hold her anger back. He nodded and backed off, a bit peeved at Azalea's reaction. Azalea pushed her hair back, sighing. "I hate this place so much..."

"The sentiment is shared, Lady Azalea" Vittoria said behind her "We all loathe this place. With some luck, such sentiment does not extend to hating the people here"

Azalea narrowed her eyes. "I don't think you can say that after what you said to Thioro"

Vittoria put her hand on her chest. Had that offended her? "I do not regret what I said, Lady Azalea. I have nothing against Sir Meziane as a person, but he is not as useful as he could be"

"Do you think Thioro is useless?"

Vittoria clasped her hands together, looking a bit awkward. "I think his detective skills leave a lot to be desired. It is true he is helpful at times, but you have to remember our lives are at stake here. A mistake from him can mean all of our deaths"

"I can be wrong too. If I had been wrong about anything during the last three trials, we'd all be dead"

"But you were not wrong. I think that makes us all more willing to trust _you_ , instead of our resident detective. That said, I hope you keep trying your best at the trials – leaving aside that we do not want them to happen, of course" the two girls left the dining room, walking in direction of the new building "At least it seems Thioro does not hold any ill feelings towards you. Use this as a chance to motivate him. That is your talent, after all"

"I have told you before I'm not good at motivating people"

"Allow me to disagree. In my opinion, what you do during the trials proves you can be quite convincing when you want to be. Is not motivating a way to convince people?" Vittoria winked "Perhaps all you need is a new approach to your motivational intent"

"Yeah...maybe" they arrived at the door of the large new building "What are we here for?"

"We are going to throw away all the weapons anyone can take – or hide them in your cottage, if that is okay with you"

"Um, sure, that's fine..." she didn't like the idea of keeping a bunch of weapons in her cottage, but at least this way she'd be able to ensure nobody would take them to kill someone. That was worth some discomfort, at least. While Vittoria and she picked up the weapons that weren't stuck anywhere, Azalea decided to take the chance to talk some more. "You said you ran away, right?"

"Indeed, I did"

"What did you do during your exile?"

Vittoria grabbed a menacing-looking axe, struggling to drag it. "I did not do much. Without DeeEy giving me tasks to do, I had a lot of free time in my hands. I sought refuge in an idyllic French village, using the fortune my uncle and I had gathered"

"Wait, you're rich?"

"Yes, I am. In terms of money, our organization was extremely profitable, and since I was the second most prominent person in it, I always had more money than I could spend in my entire life" she gave up with the axe, judging nobody would be able to lift it "But I digress. I spent most of my time reading and learning menial skills. I do not mean to brag, but I think I could knit anything you can think, and my whittling is on par of someone who has spent much more time than me learning the skill. I also sent a lot of letters to my best friend – my former lawyer. You would like him"

"Wow..." somehow Azalea couldn't imagine Vittoria doing something like knitting or whittling "That all sounds kind of nice"

"It was – until the Tragedy happened. I always tried to hear as little as possible about what happened in other parts of the world, but it was impossible to miss such event. The consequences of such atrocity reached even the village I was at, and I was forced to flee for my life. I spent a couple years wandering through Europe. No place was safe, but I was always prepared to fight back. I do not like killing people, but that became a necessity during those times"

"I thought you had said you didn't kill people!"

"Trust me, Lady Azalea, during the Tragedy I made sure to leave killing as the very last resort, and before the Tragedy I never committed murder"

 _I guess that's kind of...acceptable?_ It was a life or death situation. Azalea couldn't remember what she did during the Tragedy, but there was always a chance she hurt people.

Vittoria continued. "Most of my memories of that time period are rather vague. I assume that is our kidnappers' influence. However, I am rather sure I did not return to Japan in time to see my uncle before he died. That is something I will always regret"

"You could have returned and you just don't remember—"

"I know myself better than anyone. I must have stayed away from Japan no matter what. If I ever returned, then that must have happened after his death"

Azalea could feel the sadness buried deep within Vittoria. She clearly regretted her actions and blamed herself for her uncle's death, but she also tried to keep a façade, pretending she wasn't as affected as she actually was. As a motivator, she wanted to aid Vittoria, to help her leave behind such feelings. What could she do?

 _I have to think of something. You'll see, Vittoria, I'll help you._

-ooooo-

Twilight arrived, and soon the Heavenly Resort was coated in darkness. It was almost time for everyone to return to their cottages and sleep, but almost nobody felt safe enough to go do that. Everyone kept watching each other, wondering if the next morning they'd wake up to find someone had died. Azalea didn't enter her cabin, instead she looked around. Would something happen during the night...?

 _I still need to talk with Thioro._

For that reason, he went in direction of Thioro's cottage, but her thoughts...they kept going towards Monobear's motive. She couldn't deny there was a question nagging at her, and she wanted answers, but...

...no matter what was answered, she didn't want to kill anyone. She wouldn't fall so low she'd kill. She'd be doomed to forget the answer she'd receive. She hoped that, at least, the answer she'd get would give her momentary peace.

Besides, it was a dark night. Nobody would see her, right? Telling that to herself over and over, she walked in direction of Monobear's office, to the half-circle modelled after his head.


	28. Chapter 4: Atonement III

Not many would approach willingly the bear's office. Not only there was no way to enter, nobody wanted to meet Monobear alone. It was likely now there'd be a way to enter, though. How else would someone talk to their captor? Still hesitating, Azalea approached the building, looking with disgust the black and white dome. "So tacky…" The tackiness was the least of their problems. What was dangerous was what was inside.

Indeed, just like she supposed, now there was a way in. Near the place where the intercom was placed, now there was a shutter, wide open. Azalea stood in front of the intercom and pressed the button, sighing between her teeth. "Hello?"

"What? Who is it now?"

"Uh…now?"

"Yeah. You think you're the first person to come? My adoring fans come here all the time! And then there's you bastards" he chuckled under his breath "You're the fourth person to come. I thought you guys had said you wouldn't ask me anything"

"The fourth…?" That sounded outrageous. Had so many people really come to make a deal with Monobear? Did that mean there were three potential killers right now? Azalea zipped her cardigan a bit more, feeling cold all of a sudden. _If someone dies, that'd mean the killer visited Monobear not long ago._ Trying to stay optimistic, Azalea knocked on the shutter, signaling she wanted to enter and stop the small talk. "Open already!"

"Got it! Step back, because I'm opening the door!"

The shutter slowly opened upwards, a fog coming from inside, dispersing through the ground around the office. Spotlights and colorful lasers shined, creating a grand entrance many would be jealous of. And then…Monobear simply walked out. _All that set up just for nothing?_ Monobear laughed, amused. "Upupu…what? Did you think I'd come flying through the air or I'd burst from the ground? Why'd I do that? You know me, I'm just your humble everyday bear"

"There's nothing humble about you!" Azalea shouted, stepping aside Monobear to enter.

"You sure must be fun at parties, Azalea-san" Monobear shrugged and entered behind her.

Contrary to what she expected, the inside of the office was much smaller than it seemed from the outside. There was nothing except a desk and a very large door on the back, locked with a hefty padlock. "This is the most boring office I have ever seen" Azalea commented, sitting on the chair near her. Monobear sat on the other side of the desk, as if this was a meeting with the principal instead of a meeting with your kidnapper.

"What did you expect? I don't sit here on my ass the whole day, Azalea-san. This is just a place to meet whoever wants to talk to me"

"Is that what the intercom is for? To alert you about someone wanting to talk to you?"

"Exactly! The best thing about a virtual world is that I can appear anywhere I want when I'm needed!" _That sounds kind of important…_ "So that was your question. Now you have two hours to kill before you forget what I just told you"

Azalea stood up, shaking her hands. "W-Wait! That wasn't going to be my question!"

"…fine. I'll let you have that freebie. Now you can't say I'm not a generous bear" he accepted. Azalea took a deep breath, slowly approached the desk, and put her hands on it, leaning forward to glare at the bear.

"I keep feeling there was something off about the last case. Alistair caused their deaths, I know that, but I feel like I'm missing something. What I want to know is…" she changed her wording:_ "I want you to tell me the truth of Chrysanthe's death"

"Wawawhat? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're hiding something! I want to know what you're hiding" she straightened up "That's what I want to know"

Monobear stared at her, his eyes glowing menacingly. "Is that something you'd kill someone for?"

"I'm not saying I will. I just want answers, even if I'll forget them soon. Tell me already: who caused Chrysanthe and Runihura's deaths? Was it Alistair, like I thought?"

"Whatever. This is your loss, not mine" At least he seemed willing to talk. Something in his voice changed, he sounded much more serious than before.

The truth Azalea heard horrified her. Monobear spoke without mercy, telling all the details. Azalea's eyes widened with every word, slowly raising her hands to her face. When she asked for proof, Monobear provided it.

Fifteen minutes later, Azalea exited Monobear's office, walking slowly and without noticing what was around her. She was dazed, kind of regretting having asked anything. Dumbfounded, she walked until she reached the plaza. It felt like her head was filled with fog. Only when she passed beside the Monobear statues she started realizing the enormity of what she had just heard.

 _...he must have lied. That can't be true._

She had to see by herself. "I want to check Alistair's cottage" she had said at the end. Monobear, gloating, laughed openly at her, only when he calmed down a bit he replied:

"Of course not! You think we'd leave a dead body lying around after the investigation? It's all gone!"

"Then you must have lied! I won't believe anything you-!"

"It was all the truth, Azalea-san. Do you want to see by yourself? Then go ahead!" and that was when he gave her _the_ proof. He had even allowed her to take it out of the office, she had it in her pocket. Even though Monobear had said the crime scene had been completely cleaned up, she wanted to see that by herself. Managing to calm down a bit, she took a deep breath, feeling as if the fog in her head dissipated a bit, and stepped in direction of the cottages.

"Azalea?"

Azalea froze and slowly turned around. It was Thioro. She curled her hands into fists, hiding them behind her back, and tried to keep her voice steady. "Hi, Thioro"

The detective noticed the sudden hostility, and kept his distance. "I'm sorry for talking to you so suddenly, it's that I was over there..." he pointed in direction of Monobear's office "...and I saw you leave his office. Did you ask a question to him?"

"So what if I did?" she spat, snarling. Thioro stepped back a bit.

"It's just that it's hypocritical of you to go see Monobear after you told us all to not fall for his motive"

Something about Thioro's sanctimonious tone hit a nerve in her. She stomped towards him, grabbing him from his tie and pulling, pointing with her other hand at his face. "Don't you dare say another word. I don't need _you_ to talk to me right now"

"A-Azalea, I just—"

"Shut up!" she let go of his tie, pushing him away "Don't talk to me!"

"What did that bear tell you?"

"I know what happened in that cottage! I can't believe you...Chrys...you planned..." she felt sick, a wave of nausea overcoming her "Why did you do that?! You helped kill them!"

"What did Monobear say?!"

"Oh, I think you know what he said"

Thioro jumped as if burned by Azalea's glare, he tensed up, expecting a punch or any other kind of attack. "It's not like you think it happened!"

Azalea passed her hands over her face, wanting to scream. Thioro had the gall of denying it, he pretended he didn't know anything. "He _proved_ it! You also tried to surrender during the trial. If Monobear hadn't decided keeping the game going was more important, we'd all have died!"

"You don't get it; you don't get it at all!" Thioro slowly started approaching, raising his hands in front of him just in case "Yeah, I admit it: I was involved in their deaths, but you can't judge what happened because of what the bear said. Please, calm down!"

"I won't calm down! Hell, now that I think about it, no wonder you wanted to have Kamiya with you! This is…everyone should hear about this. Nobody realizes the extent of this...conspiracy!"

The detective took a deep breath, stopping near Azalea. "I'm sorry, Azalea"

"You're _sorry_?! Do you think saying you're sorry will solve anything?! You guys killed my sister and my friend!"

"Yes, I'm sorry for _that_ too, but I meant I'm sorry for _this_ "

In one swift move, Thioro grabbed Azalea by her arm and pulled her towards him, using his other hand to cover her mouth. She barely had time to react before he forced her to turn around, passing one arm in front of her neck and pressing her windpipe with it. Azalea struggled, trying to scream or get away of the detective's bear grip, but his extensive experience in apprehending suspects meant she had no chance of escaping. His arms pressed onto the sides of her neck, cutting her blood flow, she could feel herself go lightheaded. "T-Thi..." she wheezed, falling unconscious, her last thought being how she could have been so careless.

"See you in a few hours" he said, catching her before she fell to the ground.

-ooooo-

Later, Junko Enoshima decided she'd give everyone twelve hours before she took action. Outside of the simulation, Mitsuhiko told Toyotomi and Hikasa about the possibility someone is sabotaging their efforts.

-ooooo-

The first thing Azalea felt when she woke up was a throbbing pain in her head. She mumbled a few swear words, grabbing her head and closing her eyes tightly. Only when the pain subsided a bit, she opened her eyes.

It was dark and cramped. The only light was a thin sliver of light coming from what seemed to be a small opening. Confused, Azalea pressed onto the sliver with a hand, noting how small the space she was in was. The doors opened easily, the sliver broadened, nothing blocked the way out. Azalea crawled out of where she had been stashed, looking around and trying to ignore her aching head.

She was at the pharmacy. The clock on the wall showed it was rather early in the morning: 6:45 AM. _Why am I here...?_ she blearily thought, trying to focus. She remembered deciding to see Monobear, so that meant she was going to ask a question. Did she ask it? What did Monobear say? No matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't recall what had happened. _I suppose I did ask him something_. What else would explain that large gap in her memories? But Monobear had said he'd erase the memories of the last two hours, and she was pretty sure she had gone to ask him around 10:00 PM. There was a significant amount of time without any memories. What did she do, hear Monobear's answer, crawl into the cupboard underneath the pharmacy's counter, and then fall asleep? That didn't make any sense.

Azalea wiped sweat off her brow with her sleeve, still confused. What she saw in that moment didn't help.

Her hands were smeared with fresh blood, and her sleeves and parts of her cardigan had many splatters of the same substance. Azalea screamed, keeping her hands away from her body, and without thinking she hurried towards the double doors that'd lead outside. She pulled from them, the doors didn't open. "What's wrong with these fucking doors?!" she shouted, pulling from them a few times before noticing what was wrong: there was a drumstick placed on the door handles. She took it and threw it behind her, opening the doors and closing them behind her. Luckily for her, there was nobody outside. Panicking, she ran towards the cottage area, to her cabin, she had to change her clothes before someone saw her with all that blood. She didn't even close the door before hurrying to her bathroom, immediately taking off her cardigan and frantically scrubbing her hands clean in the sink.

It took a while to take off the blood off her forehead and her hands, but she managed to do it. Azalea gripped the edge of the sink, breathing heavily and staring into the mirror. All that blood, yet she didn't have any injuries, from what she noticed. She closed her eyes, trying once again to remember what she did the night before. It was useless, her mind was blank. "What the hell did I do last night?" she asked the mirror, as if expecting her reflection would give her an answer.

True, there had been blood on her, but if she didn't remember what she asked Monobear nor the answer he gave her, then that meant she hadn't killed someone, right? The terms were that committing murder would be the way to ensure memories wouldn't be erased. That cleared her of any wrongdoing, unless Monobear had lied, but she saw no reason for him to lie and erase memories again. It was a bit comforting to know she hadn't killed anyone.

Still...all that blood must have come from somewhere. Did someone bleed last night? Who? And why? She hoped it didn't mean someone had been killed, but given the situation they were all in, that seemed likely. Azalea left the bathroom and examined the blood on her cardigan. It was fresh. So it had happened recently, and it was unlikely it had been while she was inside the cupboard _. I have a bad feeling about all this_ she thought, dropping the cardigan on the floor. Going to wash it would get her unneeded attention, and she wasn't sure how to wash it on her sink. She had to wash it later.

Once she put on a fresh cardigan and looked at the time – 7:00 AM - Azalea left her cottage. The Hostages were already preparing for breakfast and greeting each other. _Act natural_ she told herself, descending her porch.

"Good morning, Azalea"

Thioro approached her, smiling. Just great, of all people, the _detective_ had to be the one to approach her. Her first thought was that he immediately would notice something was off, that he'd demand to search her cabin and he'd find the bloody cardigan. "Is there something wrong?"

"W-Wrong? No, it's nothing" Azalea averted her eyes "Why do you ask?"

"You seem rattled. Did you have a bad dream?" he sounded concerned. Azalea latched onto that convenient excuse.

"Yeah, I dreamed with Chrys. It was a nightmare; I don't want to talk about it"

The detective looked at her with sympathy. "Thought so. Here, let me give you something to drink. You look like you need it"

"Do I really look that bad?" she followed him towards the diner.

"No, not really, but I think anyone would want hot coffee or tea after a bad night"

Azalea smiled weakly, thankful for Thioro's attention. _Act natural_ she told herself again. That involved pretending nothing was wrong, didn't it? Continue her life like usual. Being sociable would be a good way to do that. Along the way, they found a small group of people.

Matthew, Lucien, Vittoria and Elaine were going towards the new building. "...he would renew everything, I think it is possible more weapons appeared" Vittoria was saying.

"Do you think Azalea still has all those weapons in her cottage?" Elaine asked.

"I do not know. If there are no weapons in her cottage, the administrators may have moved them back to the armory"

Matthew noticed Thioro and Azalea and greeted them. Everyone else turned around, following his example. "Perfect timing! Azalea, do you still have the armory stuff in your cabin?" he asked eagerly.

"I do. It'd be hard not to see the pile of deadly objects I stashed in a corner of my room" Azalea replied dryly. Vittoria nodded, turning towards the rest.

"If Lady Azalea has all the weapons in her cabin, then it is unlikely any appeared here again. We may not have anything to worry about"

"Why do you trust Azalea with a lot of weapons?" Lucien inquired.

"Because I believe Lady Azalea is an outstanding person and would not let herself be swayed by Monobear is motives. Do you disagree with my assessment?"

"No, I'd trust Azalea too"

Pleased, Vittoria nodded. "Exactly. I believe we have nothing else to talk about now"

"Shouldn't we check anyway?"

"No, that will not be necessary. If I am correct about how this virtual world works, there will be no new weapons" she started a long spiel that could be summarized as 'the vital stuff gets renewed, everything else doesn't'

Once the matter was settled, the Hostages dispersed. Azalea watched them. She really wanted to join them, to try not to spend time with someone likely to catch onto any lies about what was wrong with her, but it'd be suspicious to run away at this point. "What was that about coffee?"

In just a few minutes Thioro and she were sitting to the counter of the diner, with large cups of hot coffee in front of them. Azalea smelled her cup, starting to feel revitalized by the coffee. "Thanks, Thioro. I really needed this"

"Don't mention it, it was nothing" he smiled kindly "I suppose you don't want to talk about your nightmare, do you?"

"I'd rather not" hurrying to change the topic, she decided to talk about him "Do you do this often where you work at? I have heard the police likes coffee a lot too"

"That's just a stereotype, like that one that says cops like donuts. I mean, we do, but it's not like we eat donuts day and night" Thioro touched the rim of his coffee cup "Besides it's not like I give people hot beverages all the time"

"Oh, you only give them to pretty women?"

The detective laughed. "No, it's not that! It's just that, uh...I'm not well liked over there. The other detectives and I don't get along. I think it's jealousy"

"Why'd they be jealous?"

"Because of my track record. I'm the best detective in Johannesburg, and much younger than most of the other detectives. Most of them are in their forties or fifties. I may be twenty-seven years old, but to them I'm like some upstart brat, not a partner"

"Have you tried talking to them?"

"I have, but I don' t think they want to listen to me anyway" he pursed his lips "Now that I think about it, I don't fit here either, do I? Over there I'm disliked because I'm too good, here I'm disliked because I'm not good enough. It's like I can't fit anywhere"

Azalea put her hand on his arm. "They were just upset, don't worry about it"

"The thing is they're right, I have done too many mistakes. Maybe I'm getting rusty" he continued, sounding disheartened "I truly thought I was onto something during the first and the third trial...I almost got all of us killed" he sighed "I must be doing something wrong, but I don't know what it is..."

He sounded so sad, so lost, Azalea felt an immense amount of pity towards him. Thioro had his heart in the right place, and he did want to help everyone during the trials, but his failures were weighing him down a lot now. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Thioro, you're worrying too much"

"Our lives are at stake here, there's a lot to worry about"

"But you don't have to take all that weight by yourself" she smiled "You're the detective, and you're the only one here with a lot of experience in trials and investigations, but you don't have to do it all by yourself.

We're a team. I think what you're doing wrong is blaming yourself too much. We're not waiting you to come up with the answers and show us the way, what we all want is you to talk with us, and together find the truth. All of us, together, can solve any case. Stop worrying about having to solve the case _for_ all of us, just work _together_ with us"

Thioro looked at her with surprise while he processed what she had just said. He blinked owlishly, and finally nodded, smiling. For the first time since Azalea had known him, Thioro was at ease. "You're right. Of course, that's it!"

"Got an epiphany?"

"I don't think it counts as an epiphany if someone else gives it to me" he stood up, pleased "You're completely right, that's what I have been doing wrong. I'm used to having to work by myself, that's what's wrong with me!" he sounded full of determination, ready to tackle whatever may come "Thank you, thank you a lot, Azalea. I admit I never thought you'd reveal such truth to me, but it turns out you're more insightful than I thought"

 _Why do people give me backhanded compliments all the time?_ That kind of ruined the satisfaction from having helped Thioro, but she smiled nonetheless. "That's what friends are for"

"Yes, you're right. We are friends" he extended his hand. Azalea grabbed it, feeling his warmth. She felt he knew Thioro rather well now. He was a very dedicated detective, and truly wanted to pursue the truth. He had a lot of determination. He could be awkward at times, but he meant well. Overall, she felt happy to have met him.

It was a bond.

And said bond encouraged her to be honest with him. She had nothing to fear, so why no to tell him? Before Thioro could leave, Azalea stopped him. "Uh, Thioro, there's something I'd like to tell you"

"What? What's it?"

"I think something horrible happened last night"

She told him about how she woke up with her hands covered in blood, and how she ran to the cottage to change as soon as she left. When she mentioned the drumstick that had been blocking the door, he narrowed his eyes in thought, but said nothing. Only when she finished the tale, he talked.

The detective nodded, pacing slowly around Azalea. "Did you say it happened at the pharmacy?"

"Yes. I don't remember how I got there or why someone would put me in that cupboard"

"You don't remember hitting your head at some point, do you?" he asked. Azalea shook her head. "Then you may have been knocked out. This shows whoever did that intended to put you in that cupboard all along"

"Why'd someone want to do that?"

"I can only guess someone died and they want to frame you for that murder. There's something that's bothering me, though…" he walked to the door "I'll go take a look"

"W-Wait for me!" It was personal again. The moment the culprit chose to get her involved sealed the deal. Thioro didn't object to her help, so they quickly arrived to the new building. Thioro grabbed the handles on the outside, slowly pushing the doors open.

"It's not locked anymore"

"Does that mean the culprit hasn't returned here yet?"

"That's what I'd say" not too far from the entrance there was a drumstick "Is that the drumstick you saw on the door?"

"Yeah, I just threw it aside. Is it important?" Thioro picked it up carefully, turning it around in his hands. Parts of the surface of the drumstick was smeared with blood. Was that always there? Azalea couldn't remember.

"…I think it's rather important" he said, refusing to elaborate, and left the drumstick right where he had found it. Azalea followed him inside the building. He started looking around, paying special attention to the floor in all sections. While he did that, Azalea followed him like a puppy, not wanting to stray too far away from him, looking for anything the culprit may have dropped. There was nothing.

It took Thioro a few minutes to examine the entirety of the floor of the new building. At one point he got onto the stage while Azalea waited some distance away. Other than a pair of large speakers and the curtains on the back, there was nothing on the stage. When he returned to Azalea, he had an inscrutable expression on his face. "Did you find anything?"

"I didn't. Now that I think about it, maybe I should—" she moved towards the pharmacy, intending to examine the cupboard she had been in, but Thioro stopped her, grabbing her wrist.

"I think I'll take care of that. I don't mean to offend you or anything, Azalea, but I think you shouldn't take a look"

Azalea put her hands on her hips. "What happened to the part of working as a team?"

"That's not what I mean. It's just that I fear you'll tamper with the evidence without noticing. The culprit intended to frame you, if you do something you may risk leaving evidence against yourself"

Did that make sense? Azalea wasn't sure, but she didn't want incriminate herself any further. She stepped away from the cabinet, making sure not to touch anything. "Fine. What's the plan?"

"Let's leave for now. We should gather a few reliable people to examine this place further. Do you have someone you particularly trust?"

"Vittoria and Elaine. I'll bring them"

"Good. I'll look for Sigrun" apparently a strange look crossed Azalea's face, because Thioro got defensive "What? She may be a killer, but I think that's precisely why she'll be useful…unless she was the one who brought you here, of course"

"I don't think Sigrun would be strong enough for that"

Thioro crossed his arms. "Are you sure? Has she ever showed to be stronger than she looks?" right, there was one moment…hadn't Sigrun lifted that heavy-looking spear? That meant she had more strength than you'd think of a person of her size and build. Azalea still doubted she'd be able to carry her in her arms, but maybe she'd be able to drag her quickly. "Right. Let's go" They left together, agreeing to meet in front of the new building and going in different directions to look for the Hostages they each trusted.

It took a while for Azalea to find her partners. Elaine was easy to find, she had been at the dining hall, but Vittoria was harder to find. Around fifteen minutes had passed before Azalea and Elaine managed to find her, she was exiting the library at that moment. "Vittoria!"

"Good morning, Lady Azalea" she said rather pleasantly, unaware of Azalea's uneasiness.

"About time I found you! Girls, I'm in trouble"

"Are you going to tell now what's going on? You have refused to say anything" Elaine was annoyed, glaring at her.

"I will in a moment. Follow me, Thioro's waiting for us"

"This isn't going to be a way to force us to apologize to him or anything like that, right?" Despite Elaine's reticence, she followed her. That was how much she trusted her. Unfortunately for them, Thioro wasn't waiting in front of the new building as agreed. He was nowhere to be seen. "That man is as unreliable as usual"

"Perhaps he is waiting inside?" Vittoria suggested. Agreeing and hoping that was what was going on – she didn't want to have to go around the Heavenly Resort to look for Thioro – Azalea grabbed the door handles and pushed.

The doors didn't open. They did for a bit before stopping, there was something blocking the other side. Azalea's blood ran cold, a bad feeling invading her. "I don't like this"

"Is there a problem, Lady Azalea?" Without answering Vittoria, Azalea ran around the sides of the building. She remembered there were windows on the side of the building. True, none of them could be opened from the outside, but maybe there was one open already? Once the girls agreed who would take a look where, they started searching. Azalea ran down the right side, finding most of the windows were covered with thick black curtains. Had they always been there? She couldn't remember. The highest window was open, but it was way too high to get there, two stories and half high. The catwalk to reach the light baton was too far away from the windows, from what she remembered. Resigned, Azalea returned to the front.

"Did you find a window?" Azalea asked Vittoria, who was there, having just returned from checking the back.

Vittoria awkwardly replied. "Unfortunately, I did not find an open window. There are no windows back there. Perhaps we could try breaking a window?"

"We're going to have to—" Azalea was interrupted when Elaine came running.

"There's something going on over here!" she said quickly before running back towards the left side, pointing at two specific windows. One was a bit open, barely enough for one to pass one's hand through, but the window lock was too far away. The other window was fully closed, but it didn't have a curtain. "What are you waiting for? Look inside!"

Azalea placed her hands around her eyes and looked through the window. The inside of the music club area was dark, but she was able to distinguish a person inside: Thioro. _What's he doing in there?_ Thioro had blocked the doors? "What is going on?" Vittoria asked.

"I'm not sure…Thioro's inside. He's just standing there—" right in that moment, he started slowly raising his hands to the side of him. There was something in his hands:

A katana.

"He has a sword!" Azalea shouted. Elaine immediately ran towards the doors. Vittoria followed her, but before leaving, she said to Azalea:

"What are you waiting for? Get his attention! Stop him from doing whatever he is doing!"

"R-Right" what else could she do other than hit the window to try to get him to look that way?" Azalea hit the glass with both fists. "Thioro! Thioro, stop!" she had just hit it again when a curtain fell, covering the view. "I can't see him anymore!"

Vittoria immediately went to the slightly opened window, peering inside. "I can not see him from this window. This is not good" Vittoria murmured and ran to where Elaine was trying to open the doors without much success.

Frustrated, Elaine kicked the doors, but nothing happened. "This isn't working! We're going to have to break a window"

"We need a large and hard object to break the glass" Vittoria looked around. There were no usable rocks anywhere "Looks like we're going to have to leave the crime scene for now"

"The crime scene? Do you think he's killing someone _right now_?" Azalea turned pale. Vittoria, staying calm despite the situation, nodded grimly.

"Yes. I can not think of many uses for a katana other than harming himself or someone else. This is not a good situation either way" she pushed the doors weakly "Let is look for something to break the windows. We also could gather some of the men to try force these doors open. Do not fool around, go with the first usable option"

"We can't break a window. If we do that, we'd give Thioro a way out of here" Elaine said "Let's break the lock"

Azalea interjected: "These doors don't have a lock. I think Thioro put a drumstick on the other side. With enough strength, we should be able to break it.

"So we are in agreement. Let is go. We do not have much time" without waiting for the other girls to agree, Vittoria quickly walked away. Elaine tried to follow her, but Azalea stopped the writer.

"Do you know where the guys are?"

"My brother is at the dining hall. We can get him" agreeing on a plan of action, Azalea and Elaine hurried to the dining hall, bursting through the doors. Lucien, Dalia, Kamiya and Matthew were inside, they all turned their heads around when the doors opened so violently. "All of you, come here! We need help!" Elaine said almost without breath and turned around with no explanation. Nobody followed her, the guys and Dalia looked at each other dumbly. _Oh for the love of—_

"Get going already!" Azalea shouted. Spurred, the group stood up and ran out of the dining hall, following Azalea to the new building. Vittoria was nowhere to be seen. Supposing she was still looking for someone who could help, and knowing there was no time to be waiting, Azalea pointed at the double doors "We have to force open that door!"

"Sounds easy enough. All we have to do is slam our shoulders over and over, right?" Dalia crackled her knuckles "Between the six of us that should be piece of cake"

"Everyone at the same time!" the six Hostages gathered in front of the double doors "One...two...three!" Matthew counted, the six ran and crashed against the door, hitting it with all their strength. The doors creaked loudly, it sounded like something was breaking.

"That sounded good. One more time!" Elaine encouraged. The second attempt was effective. The doors burst open, slamming to the sides. Azalea barely gave it time to settle before she entered, running straight in.

"Thioro! Thioro, show yourself!" she demanded, running straight towards the music venue area. Just like she wanted, Thioro was there...but not like she wanted to see him.

The detective's inert form laid on the floor, curled on itself. On his front, from the base of his neck, blood leaked from a small hole. Azalea hurried to him, crouching and putting her hands against the wound and pressing. "Thioro, come on, wake up!"

"Is he okay?" Kamiya approached with bandages, just in case.

"I-I don't know! Where's his pulse? I can't find his pulse!"

"Step aside" Kamiya gently moved her aside and put his hands on Thioro's neck and wrist, locating the right spots and placing two fingers in each part. Azalea waited for a few seconds, hoping for a positive verdict, but it never came. Kamiya shook his head and let go of Thioro's wrist.

"...I'm sorry, Azalea" he said. The rest of the group came running by, the body announcement sounded almost immediately.

 _"A body has been discovered..."_

 **Thioro Meziane is dead**

"I am sorry for arriving late. I could not find anyone—" Vittoria's voice sounded from behind them all, she had just reunited with the group. It was no surprise she couldn't find anyone, almost everyone had already been gathered by Azalea. Azalea looked up, seeing blurry because of the tears in her eyes, but Vittoria wasn't looking at her. She was looking deeper into the music venue.

That was when Azalea realized the announcement repeated. _"A body has been discovered..."_

"No. That's impossible. There can't be a second body. That can't be possible" Azalea murmured, fearing to turn around and look in direction of the stage. Kamiya sighed loudly, standing up.

"I don't mean to be rude, Azalea, but you should take a look" he gripped Azalea's cardigan, not giving her the option of staying in denial, crouching in the floor. Once she found her footing, she closed her eyes, trying to prepare herself for what she'd see. She wouldn't be able to investigate properly unless she understood how bad the situation was. Azalea held back a shudder and turned around, opening her eyes to look at the stage.

She immediately wished she hadn't.

There was a fancy chair on the stage, most likely obtained from the storage that had been opened a couple weeks ago, and there was a person sitting on it. It was odd there wasn't lots of blood seeping down the chair, what with the cause of death of the Hostage sitting on the chair: a long, sharp katana through the chest, even piercing through the back of the chair. Azalea felt like the entire world had gone cold, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was easy to identify the body, there weren't many Hostages who were as dainty as the second victim of the day.

 **Sigrun Solheim is dead.**


	29. Chapter 4: Atonement IV

Eight people were left. There had been sixteen Hostages at first, and now only half were left. Azalea felt her heart pounding, she mentally counted, trying to distract herself from the bodies themselves. Who was left? Herself, Vittoria, Elaine, Matthew, Dalia, Lucien, Kouma and Kamiya. The killer was someone among those seven people. Or…could there even be two killers this time? Two victims, found at the same place, pointed at the existence of one single culprit, but she couldn't be sure about that. What was for sure was that at the end of the trial, at least one person would be executed. It was highly unlikely someone deceased was the culprit.

"I can't believe this…I can't believe this…" she kept repeating. Thioro and Sigrun were both dead. Two friends more had perished. Who was responsible for that?

Dalia approached. "Are you okay?" she asked Azalea, who nodded, feeling a bit numb.

"I'm fine. I just…need to accept his happened" she said with a monotone voice, staring at Sigrun. There was no time for being shocked, Dalia knew that, so she tried to get her attention.

"I know it's tough, but we need to investigate. We lost out detective, we'll have to do all the effort—"

"Okay, who is our victim this time?" someone said from the entrance, sounding completely unconcerned about the fact someone else had died. It was Lucien, striding into the building with long steps, stopping when he saw the two corpses. "Oh. I see now"

Deciding not to pay any attention to Lucien, Dalia refrained from rolling her eyes and finished what she had been saying. "We have to investigate. Do you think you can check the bodies?"

"I can do it" Lucien intervened.

"Are you sure?"

"I have needed to examine whale carcasses a couple times. As you may have guessed, those things smell _awful_. Compared to dead whales, examining these two will be easy"

Matthew approached Thioro's body. "I can give this a try too. This lens of mine will find even the smallest pieces of evidence"

"Let me help you" Kamiya offered. Between the two of them they started examining Thioro's body, leaving Lucien and Azalea to deal with Sigrun's body. Preparing herself for what was likely to be an awful thing to do, Azalea held back the urge to throw up, and put her hands on the hilt of the katana.

"Wait, don't take it out!"

"But we have to investigate"

Lucien made a face of doubt, but he relented. "Fine. Just make sure to mention you were the one who took it out" he advised. Azalea grabbed the hilt of the katana again, but she didn't pull. She hesitated. Was she capable of pulling out a long sword from the dead body of someone she esteemed? It felt like she was desecrating the body, and having to put it back later was an even worse thought. She just stood there, both hands on the hilt, without moving.

"Don't force yourself to do it if you don't feel capable, but if you're going to do it then do it already! You're wasting our time!" Lucien said with exasperated tone, but he couldn't mask some concern hidden in his voice.

"…I can't. I can't do this to her" Azalea admitted, letting go off the hilt. Lucien put his hands in his pockets, exhaling.

"Figures. You're too soft-hearted for that. Let's start with the Monobear file"

"I don't have the file—"

"Did you request this?" right after Monobear's grating voice was heard, something soft and large fell on Azalea's head, Lucien caught it in his hands before it touched the floor. It was Monobear, just that he wasn't moving.

"What the hell…?" he muttered, squishing the inert bear, and looked up. Monobear was peering through the window high over their heads, waving at them.

"Sorry for taking so long! You have no idea how much work it's to climb up here. I had to extend my body like silly putty!"

"…I repeat, what the hell…?"

"It was grotesque. Just imagine that, cute little ol' me, extending up to the heavens, looking like some kind of fuzzy sausage…gross! Want to see it now?" naturally, the reply was 'no', a very loud and vehement 'no'. "Geez, tough crowd! Fine, I'm leaving!" he said and disappeared from the windowsill. _Sometimes I really hate that bear_. He was trying to make them angry, she was sure of that. The inert Monobear that fell on her had lots of Monobear files. Once they were distributed to those who were around, Azalea opened hers and read the contents.

 **Monobear File #4**

 _Victim: Thioro Meziane_

 _Cause of Death: Asphyxiation caused by perforation of the respiratory tract._

 _Location of the Body: Titty Typhoon_

 _The body also shows signs of contusion on the back of the head_

 _Victim: Sigrun Solheim_

 _Cause of Death: Stabbing injury with a katana_

 _Location of the Body: Titty Typhoon_

"Looks like this time he omitted _when_ they died" Azalea showed Lucien what she meant "What do you think?"

"It must be rather important. Do we have a way to know when exactly they died?"

"…maybe we do" Azalea thought back to what she had seen through the window "If they died around the same time then it must have been around ten minutes ago"

"That wasn't too long ago. How do you know?"

She approached the window, opening the curtain that covered it. "Vittoria, Elaine and I were out here. I saw Thioro through this window, he was moving and had the katana in his hands"

"Are you completely sure it was him and not someone else?"

"I'm positive. No one has the same body type Thioro does, it'd be impossible to think it was anyone else"

Lucien bit the inside of his cheek. "Right. Azalea, that sounds like vital testimony. You _will_ talk about it during the trial"

Something about Lucien's tone when he said that was odd. Was she imagining things, or was Lucien looking at her with suspicion? Suspicion, doubt, disdain, and a bit of worry. Clearly he had something in mind already. Was it suspicion towards Azalea? _Does he think I did it?_

 **Azalea's Testimony**

 _At 7:45 AM Thioro was at the Titty Typhoon, moving and alive. Azalea saw him raise the katana that killed Sigrun. She was outside, looking through a window. Vittoria and Elaine were with her._

Lucien touched the hilt of the katana, his lip curling in a gesture of disgust. "It'd be good if there was a way to prove Thioro once held this"

"Like fingerprints?"

"I guess so, but we have no way to analyze fingerprints. We'll have to hope for something else" after taking a moment to prepare himself, Lucien grasped the hilt with a hand and pulled, the katana sliding out of Sigrun with a disgusting sound. "…this was harder than I thought it'd be" he said, and Azalea had the feeling he didn't mean the part about physically pulling the katana out.

"Ho-Hold it still, I'll examine it"

"Hurry up!" he said with a hint of panic. Azalea looked closely at the katana. The blood obscured most of the steel, dripping down. _What's that…?_ She wasn't sure what she was seeing, but it seemed like there were two layers of blood on the sword: one almost dry and the other fresh. Patches of semi-dried blood coated the katana, forming gross scabs Azalea wouldn't _ever_ touch willingly.

"Do you know how long it takes for blood to dry?"

"How do you expect me to know? I'm a marine biologist, not a forensic investigator!"

 **Katana**

 _The katana that killed Sigrun. It has both fresh and semi-dried blood._

As soon as Azalea said she was done with the katana, Lucien dropped it on the floor, rubbing his hands as if something nasty and sticky had gotten onto them. "Thioro gained some respect from me. How can he stomach touching human bodies?!"

"This wasn't as easy as you thought it'd be, huh"

"It isn't! These are people, not whales" Lucien seemed to have a hard time admitting he was grossed out. "Let's leave the katana here. I'm not going to stick it back, and I doubt you want to" _No objections from me!_

"Do you think you can examine the wound?"

"There's no need for that. What's there was made by the katana, no doubt about it" the idea of having to examine Sigrun's body was making Lucien kind of ill, he was starting to get green. Pressured by the expectations of finding something now that his attempt to be coroner failed miserably, he picked up something from beside the chair "Isn't this her violin?"

"It is" she recognized the color and material, but it didn't look like a violin. It was in its crossbow mode "That's her crossbow, no doubt"

"So she had it with her…she had it all the time"

 **Violin**

 _Sigrun's violin, modified to work as a crossbow. Sigrun may be the only one who can turn her violin into a crossbow and back. Found in its crossbow mode._

Lucien stepped back, looking at Sigrun's corpse. He was less green than before, thankfully. "I'm not sure exactly why, but I feel there's something off about her"

"Off? Like what?"

"I told you I'm not sure. It's like there's something missing here, but I have no idea what it could be"

A bit confused, Azalea stepped back, staring at Sigrun. It took her a moment to realize what was wrong. "Her fluffy thingamajig is missing!"

"Her what?" Lucien rubbed his chin.

"That cloth thing she has from her neck!"

Lucien touched his collarbone. "Her cravat"

"How it's called doesn't matter, what's important here is that it's missing" Azalea circled Sigrun's body, looking where it could be "Didn't Sigrun take out arrows from it during the last trial? That's where she was keeping her crossbow bolts"

"Someone took the cloth where Sigrun kept the bolts...in that case, it must be related in some way to the murders" he paused, mulling that particular tidbit "I can't imagine how...I'm leaving this up to you, Azalea"

 **Missing Cravat**

 _Sigrun's cravat is missing. Usually she stores her crossbow bolts in her cravat._

Lucien carefully lifted Sigrun's body, putting it on the floor. Despite his usual blunt behavior, he was very careful with Sigrun's body, almost gentle. "Was she your friend?" Azalea asked.

"Of course not. I'd rather not have to talk with any of you if I don't have to"

"Why? You don't like people?"

"I don't like people; you should know that already. Besides..." he scowled "...we're in here to kill each other. Why should I trust anyone? It'd be a way to ensure I'd die, there's no way I'm going to let that happen!"

"We can take care of each other, you know"

"I said I'm not trusting anyone here. You're the only one I think isn't a completely untrustworthy person, and I wouldn't turn my back not even to _you_ " he lashed his arm towards the chair "Now stop talking about me and focus on the investigation!"

"Okay, I get it, you don't want to talk about yourself" Azalea touched the chair, making sure not to touch where it was stained with blood "Where did this chair come from?"

"I don't think it comes from the dining hall. From the storage, perhaps?"

"So...the killer took a chair from the storage all the way here?"

"The storage is just a door away. It wouldn't take long for anyone to—hm?" Lucien's eyes narrowed a bit, he approached the chair, looking at the back "Okay, now we're talking! Azalea, look over here" once Azalea was behind the chair too, he pointed at the hole the katana had passed through "Look here: the hole looks rather neat"

"What does that mean?"

"Since there's only one hole and it looks like this, I think it means the sword was inserted only once"

Azalea raised her eyebrows, looking at the slit in the chair. How could he know for sure? "You think that?"

"It could be something to keep in mind"

 **Chair**

 _The chair Sigrun was sitting on. Brought from the storage room. When Azalea entered here with Thioro, the chair wasn't there. Has one single slit, it's likely the katana punctured the chair only once_

Azalea wiped her fingers on the rim of the chair, cringing at how icky the bits of blood felt on her skin. "Again, how did Thioro get used to checking bodies?"

"Don't ask me. I thought I would be unaffected, but this is too much even for me"

"And now I have to examine Thioro, just in case" Azalea groaned, burying her face in her hands "I really hate these investigations!"

The marine biologist scratched the bridge of his nose, he seemed like he'd have loved to go away now. "...go do it. I'll deal with this one"

"Huh?"

"You didn't hear me? Go and examine Thioro's body. I'll continue investigating around here. If there's anything you want me to check now this'd be a great time to tell me"

Azalea showed her wrist. "Check her wrist, see if she has anything there"

"Her wrist...okay, I understand" he immediately grabbed Sigrun's left wrist, looking at the glove carefully. Satisfied he was going to make sure to not fail to report if he found anything on Sigrun's wrists, Azalea stepped off the stage, crossing the music venue area.

Matthew and Kamiya were working on the detective's corpse, just like they had said they would. They seemed to work rather well as a team, Matthew extending his lens and looking closely at various points that could show a clue, while Kamiya held the body's head, looked into Thioro's pockets, and followed Matthew's instructions. "Did you find anything?" Azalea asked. Kamiya let go of Thioro's arm, nodding.

"A lot of stuff. Do you want to tell them or want me to do it, Matthew?"

"I can do it" Matthew put his hand over the hole on Thioro's collarbone. "Thioro died because a crossbow arrow hit him right here" to demonstrate, he showed the bolt he took out of Thioro's body"

"Are you sure that's what killed him?" Azalea tried to confirm.

"I'm sure about it. I examined the wound closely, I'm pretty sure the arrow was what made this hole"

Kamiya took the bolt from Matthew's hand. "It's the same type of bolt Sigrun showed us during the third trial"

 **Crossbow Bolt**

 _The arrow that killed Thioro. It belongs to Sigrun and can only be shot with the crossbow violin._

"What about what hit him on the back of his head?"

Matthew shrugged. "I dunno. I can't see through his hair, okay?"

"We're lucky his arms weren't hairy at all, we were able to see this" when Kamiya lifted Thioro's wrist, Azalea thought they meant they had found something that indicated he was injected with something, but when she took a better look, she noticed there was something else.

On Thioro's hands and wrists there were many deep marks etched into his skin, like something flexible and very thin was wrapped around them. "What made those?"

"Who knows" Kamiya raised a finger "But we do know these are recent! They can't have happened too long ago, or they'd be gone"

 **Marks on Thioro**

 _Thioro's hands and wrists have thin marks that go through the circumference of his wrists. They most likely happened shortly before the body was found._

"His clothes are also a bit disheveled" Kamiya passed his hand over Thioro's suit coat, and t-shirt underneath it, showing what he meant "I'm not sure, but these almost look like the same marks on his hands"

"Maybe you'd see better if you took off the gas mask" Matthew said, smirking. Kamiya looked away.

"Shut up, this mask is _not_ a fashion statement!"

"You gonna tell me the tragic backstory for that mask someday?"

"There's no tragic backstory, I just—" Kamiya subconsciously pressed it further into his face "Just forget about it"

The engineer beckoned Azalea, a bit annoyed Kamiya wasn't taking his friendly prodding well. "There's something else besides the marks. You know how my lens lets me look at small stuff, right?" he inquired. Once Azalea nodded, he continued, moving Thioro's wrist closer. _Kamiya and Matthew sure seem more at ease working with corpses than Lucien_ "I think someone injected something into Thioro"

"Really?" Ah, right! She had to ask that! It had almost slipped from her mind. Matthew nodded.

"Yeah! But I think nobody would have missed it. This is kind of nasty" he turned the wrist so Azalea could look what he meant. Azalea winced, taken aback by what she saw. The skin on Thioro's wrist not only had a small yet very visible puncture wound, the skin also had turned bright red and had many hives on it. An allergic reaction? "Whatever was injected into him didn't agree with him, I guess"

"Could that have happened after he died?"

"I doubt it. Do allergens affect dead bodies?" he asked to Kamiya, who simply shrugged "Who knows"

"There's nothing in his pockets" Kamiya reported, dusting off his hands "Methinks we're done here"

Azalea smiled weakly, feeling somewhat sick. Was it really possible to get used to examining the corpses of people you knew? She didn't want to find out. "Thanks, guys, I think I will...go over there..."

"If you don't feel like you can deal with all this then leave it to us" Kamiya offered. For a moment Azalea was tempted to take the offer, but in the end she refused, giving him what she hoped was a strict look.

"I'm not sure we can all trust your word, even if Matthew is with you"

"You can be so cold sometimes, Azalea" he said but accepted her opinion. Now that they had been dealt with, Azalea returned to where Lucien was finishing his investigation. When she approached he looked up, showing a long bright yellow glove.

"Just like you asked I checked if she had been injected anything. Her right wrist has a mark" _Wow, I totally didn't see that coming_ she thought sarcastically, keeping her face inexpressive. Lucien continued: "Her glove is intact, though. Looks like she or someone else took her glove off before injecting her"

"...just like it had happened to Alistair" his glove had been taken off too before injecting, but judging by Thioro's allergy, clearly the injections happened before their deaths. How could someone get them to take off their gloves? Or how did whoever injected them take off their gloves some time before their deaths?

Something wasn't right. It just didn't make any sense!

 **Injection Marks**

 _Both Sigrun and Thioro had marks on their wrists. Sigrun's glove was intact, so she wasn't injected through it. Thioro had a mild allergic reaction on the skin of his wrist due to the injection._

Right in that moment, they both heard a noise behind them. Kouma had gotten on the stage, stomping on it as if she wanted to break through it with her foot. Lucien rolled his eyes and gestured towards her, silently instructing Azalea to deal with her. "Fine" she sighed and approached the marathoner. "Do you think there's something underneath the stage?"

Kouma didn't even bother to look at her, crouching down and trying to pry a floorboard off. "I think so, yeah—you know how there are secret passages hidden behind vending machines?"

"Uh, I think you mentioned something like that when I met you" Azalea wasn't sure where this was going.

"Yeah, so what if—if there's a secret passage here? Under the stage—it'd be a perfect place. Someone could enter from outside and get in here that way"

"Did anything make you think there's a secret passage?"

Kouma put her hands on her hips, looking at Azalea with a surprising amount of determination. "This building was locked from the inside, but there was nobody here when we all got in. The killer must have gotten out somehow!"

"Couldn't they have been in the storage room right there in the back?"

"I checked that storage and found nothing. It should—it's safe to say there was nobody there"

"So your next place to check is the loudspeaker?"

"Help me move it" Kouma requested, moving to the back of the loudspeaker, and with Azalea's help, they started moving it. After a grueling minute, they managed to move the loudspeaker from where it had been. Kouma crouched, passing her hands over the planks of the floor, trying to pry through them with her fingers, but no matter what she did, she couldn't find anything. No trapdoors, no passageways, all boards were sturdy and nothing was out of place "I don't get it...I thought there'd be something like that here"

"We don't even know if there's a secret passage anywhere"

"I still have to search—it could be important" Kouma stood up and got behind the loudspeaker again, starting to push it. Azalea barely had time to get to it and put her hands on the opposite side when the loudspeaker started to tip over.

"W-Wait!" Azalea got out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the loudspeaker. It slammed on the floor with a rather loud noise, something rattling inside. Kouma covered her mouth, eyes wide open.

"Oh, shit!"

"You broke it!" Azalea struggled to get it right up, with Kouma they managed to turn it over. The front part of the loudspeaker fell, the inside of the loudspeaker coming out of the container like an avalanche of electronic parts. "Look at this mess!"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think—I didn't want it to fall down! Don't think I'm suspicious, please!"

Azalea frowned. "No, I don't mean that, it's just..." she chewed on her thumbnail, staring at the pile of electronics in front of her. "...this is pretty thorough destruction for something that just fell down to the floor. Everything came crashing down when the front popped out"

"What do you think that means?" Kouma didn't look certain, she still kind of believed she may have been the one to break the loudspeaker.

"...I'm not sure yet, but I doubt it was always like this"

 **Floorstanding Loudspeaker**

 _Almost two meters tall. The front popped out rather easily, the insides fell apart immediately._

Kouma made sure the loudspeaker wasn't going to fall down again. "I'll keep searching for a way into this place"

"You do that; I think I will..." Azalea stopped. What could she do now? What else should she check? "I'm not sure yet what to do"

"Now that I think about it, there was—uh, there was something in the storage that looked like it didn't belong there" Kouma said. "You should check that out"

"What kind of something?"

"The strange kind of something. Uh, you look at it, okay? This is a big place; I should get started now on what I'm doing – secret passages won't open randomly in front of me"

Leaving that to Kouma, Azalea entered the storage in the back of the building. It was a space filled with instruments, wallpaper, and backups for the spotlights, all piled carefully. Just like Kouma said it didn't look like anyone had ever hidden here, and it didn't seem like there were any secret passages anywhere. And also just like Kouma had said, there was something that didn't fit with the rest of the contents of the room.

Placed in a corner, there was a hat stand. _That's odd!_ Azalea approached the hat stand, examining it carefully. It was a rather tall hat stand, sturdy and thick. It looked like it could withstand even earthquakes. Why was it in the storage?

Not only that, there definitely was something unusual about the hat stand: Azalea looked closer at the wood. There were thin marks etched into the material, deep marks that seemed to have been done with...wire, perhaps? "It'd have to be really tight wire to leave marks this deeply" she murmured, digging inside one with a nail.

 **Hat Stand**

 _A very sturdy hat stand, found in the storage of the music venue. There are thin marks etched deep into the wood, all over the halfway point of the pole_

Other than the hat stand, it didn't seem like anything else was out of place. The instruments were all intact, there was no blood anywhere, it was unlikely anything else was used for anything recently. Not seeing any other clues in the storage, Azalea exited that place, noting Kouma was still looking for secret passages and Lucien was gone. Sigrun's dead body had been placed back on the chair, with the arms and head placed on the armrest, like she was just sleeping. Trying very hard to ignore that, Azalea hurried to leave the music venue area and go towards the pharmacy. She still needed to check the cupboard.

"Azalea, over here"

She had just stepped onto the pharmacy section when she heard Matthew calling for her from a side. There he was, standing beside a trash can. "What is it?" Azalea asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

"I found stuff covered in blood" he said, pointing into the trashcan. Azalea peeked inside, he was right. The trashcan was filled to the brim with bloodied objects, it'd be gross to search inside, but it had to be done.

"I'm going to have to scrub my hands a lot later" Azalea sighed, the bile raising to her throat. Matthew pursed his lips, thinking for a moment, and then tipped over the trashcan, letting the contents spill onto the floor. "Matthew!"

"It'd be gross to get your hand in there" Matthew said, nudging with his shoe what seemed to be a pile of bandages. "If you're going to grab some of this stuff, don't touch the blood"

 _He's not wrong, it'd be gross._ Not admitting she was kind of grateful at Matthew for saving her from having to put her hands into a trashcan that was rather close to being a biological danger, she crouched, observing the pile of bandages. Most of it had a pinkish tint, but it didn't look like all of it had any blood, more like it had been transferred from the other item in the trash can. There also were some dark drops on them. "Someone used these bandages?"

"I guess so, and then they threw away the rest" he glanced at Kamiya, who was still examining Thioro. "I'm not a pharmacist like that guy, but I know what gauze is used for!"

"Someone may be injured" Azalea surmised, grinning despite everything. That'd make everything easier! Matthew wasn't going to let it be so easy, though.

"I'm not sure about that...nobody's moving like they're hurt, and I think someone having bandages would automatically label them as a killer"

"But what else could a gauze be used for?"

"That's the thing, it'd be great if the killer was hurt, but it's unlikely" Matthew said. "It could be the killer simply bled on this, so they threw these away so we wouldn't find it"

Azalea raised one eyebrow. "...so they chose to throw it away...in a trashcan that's pretty close to the dead bodies. Why?"

"Maybe they couldn't throw it away somewhere else?" he said, hesitant. _I don't know, that doesn't sound right to me._

 **Gauze Bandages**

 _Some bandages in the trash can. Some drops of blood fell on them._

"There's also that other thing" Matthew picked it up, grabbing it from the corners and extending it from side to side. It was a white towel, caked with a lot of blood. "What do you think this was for?"

"...to clean a wound?" It was a lot of blood, that wasn't too much of a farfetched thought.

"Clean a bleeding wound with a towel? No...okay, maybe it was to make pressure on the wound!" he'd demonstrate if the towel wasn't absolutely gross. "That's an important step when dealing with wounds"

Azalea left the gauze aside, taking the other two corners of the towel and extending it further. "This is a lot of blood, if someone bled all this then it's impossible we wouldn't notice"

"It's the only explanation for the bandages and this towel"

"I know, I know, but maybe it's not so simple"

 **Towel**

 _A white towel. It has absorbed a lot of blood. The blood is already drying._

The more evidence Azalea found, the more she wondered if there was something she was misunderstanding. There were just too many clues that seemed disconnected from each other. How to connect them and form the bigger picture? "Thanks, Matthew, this will be useful"

"Sure, anytime" he bit his lip, looking at Kamiya. "I guess I should return to deal with him...maybe I should have left Thioro have Kamiya with him. If I had known he'd be dead the next day..."

"There's no sense in chiding yourself" Azalea advised, but Matthew didn't seem to like that advice. He closed his eyes, perhaps so he didn't roll them in front of her? Without reply, he returned to Kamiya's side. _...you're terrible at motivating_ , _Azalea_ she told herself, wandering around the pharmacy.

She had gotten almost to the doors when she felt something hard and small under his feet. Surprised, she stepped back, noticing what she had stepped on. It was half of a drumstick. "Oh, that's right..." she said, picking up the half. It was the same drumstick she had found placed on the door handles, she was sure of that. There were some traces of blood on it, and the place where the drumstick had snapped was jagged. Had it been blocking the door before? Most likely, in her opinion.

 **Broken Drumstick**

 _A long, fragile drumstick. Presumably used to lock the doors of the new building. Has some traces of blood on it._

There weren't many places left to see. The entirety of the music venue had been examined, the armory didn't seem to have anything useful, the music venue storage only had the hat stand, what was left...the cupboard. Azalea got there, examining the outside of the cabinet. Nothing had been dropped on the floor, and there was no blood on the doors or on the counter directly above the cabinet. It had less proof than she expected. Azalea was going to open the doors of the cabinet to look inside when she remembered what Thioro had said.

He had said she could unknowingly tamper with the cabinet if she investigated it. Could it be...he was right? Should she have touched it? Her fingers pulled from the doorknobs of the cabinet, parting the doors and illuminating the inside a bit. Azalea hesitated, biting the tip of her tongue in thought, and took a decision: she closed the cabinet. _Someone else should check it, I guess_. Taking mental note to ask someone she could trust to examine the cabinet, she made sure to close it and stood up, wiping her hands on her cardigan. When had her palms start to sweat so much? This case was making her much more nervous than the last three. Maybe it was because she had been unwillingly involved in it?

But if not the cabinet, where else should she investigate? Azalea crossed her arms and stood near the entrance of the building, staring towards the back of the music venue. All she could see was places she had checked already, and nothing in them was pointing towards who the killer was...

...no, that wasn't true. Azalea already had an inkling of who may be involved in the murder. She didn't want to think about it, but she had to accept Vittoria was a suspect. Had Vittoria killed Thioro or Sigrun? _No, that's impossible. I was with Vittoria when Thioro was here with the katana_. That cleared Vittoria from the possibility she had killed Sigrun, but given what happened afterwards, she was one of the only two people who had the chance to murder Thioro.

Had Vittoria committed a murder?

The worst part was the uncertainty. She couldn't see Vittoria anywhere; she couldn't ask her questions. Was Vittoria avoiding her? Was that why she wasn't anywhere? No, it had to be a coincidence. Vittoria wouldn't kill someone! _She had the chance. She may have done it._

During her thoughts, she absentmindedly looked towards the ceiling, and saw something she had forgotten about. Near the ceiling there was a catwalk. "The lighting baton!" Of course! That was the one place she hadn't been at yet. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had that idea, there were two people milling from side to side of the catwalk. Azalea steeled her will and ascended to the catwalk, trying very hard not to look down.

Elaine and Kouma were there. "Did you find a secret entrance?" Azalea asked to Kouma. The marathoner tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I found nothing"

"It seems to me like this was a perfectly closed room" Elaine piped up. "No secret entrance, the windows were closed, and those that were open are way too high to be reached. Unless you think someone locked the door from outside—"

"The drumstick was over there, that must have locked the doors"

Azalea nodded, agreeing. She also had the feeling the drumstick wasn't some sort of trap. Changing topics, she grabbed the handrail, looking straight forward at the wall of the back of the music venue. Slowly, she moved her head downwards, until she was looking straight down.

Thioro's body was directly underneath the lighting baton. Azalea jolted, gripping the handrail so hard she thought her hands were going to break. "We're so high up" she muttered.

"You not good with heights?" Elaine inquired, examining the control panel.

"It makes me nervous, that's all"

"We all have something we're kind of afraid of" Kouma commented, grabbing the lighting baton and examining it closely. "Girls, look at—I think I found something"

"What is it?"

"Some kind of...marks"

 _Marks?_ Azalea approached, taking a look. Kouma was right, there were marks into the plastic of the lighting baton. It looked like something like string or wire had been tied around it, and had exerted a lot of pressure into the material. There were other marks in the steel parts, the metal was scratched. W _hatever was tied here must have been very heavy._

Having heard them, Elaine pressed a button to make the lighting baton move upwards until it was closer to them. "Wait..." Azalea stood up, placing her hand on the console. "Elaine, did you find a remote control around here?"

"Remote...yes, there's one over here" Elaine showed it. "Why?"

"Oh. I was just wondering if it was there" _So the remote control is still there..._

 **Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton**

 _A setup that holds spotlights and lights aiming at the stage, everything can be moved and adjusted with the console or the remote control. There are marks and scratches into it, like wire or string was tied around it._

Kouma yawned, stretching her arms. "I dunno about you two, but—I think I'll go take a nap. Investigating is exhausting"

"Leave the rest to us. I think Azalea and I can do the rest" Elaine said almost kindly, grabbing Azalea's arm and carefully guiding her down the catwalk, to the stairs. The three girls descended to the ground floor, Kouma yawning again and leaving the building. Elaine and Azalea looked around, trying to see what else was there to see.

"Azalea, do you remember what we saw earlier, when Thioro killed Sigrun?"

"I remember" How would anyone forget that?

"Have you checked the windows yet? I can't avoid thinking there must be something odd about the windows..."

It was worth checking, at least. They approached the windows, finding them just like they remembered them. The window Azalea had looked through still had the curtain covering it, so she rolled the curtain up and placed it on the top of the frame, not having anywhere else to put it. "Wait a second..." she glanced at the window Elaine was examining. There was no curtain on that one. All the windows except that one had a curtain. "Why does your window not have a curtain?"

"That's a very good question!"

A voice that wasn't Elaine's replied to Azalea. On the other side of Elaine's window, they saw Kamiya with his gas mask pressed against the glass, looking at them with amusement. The writer glared at him, hitting the glass with her palm.

"Get your greasy face off the glass!"

"Wait, he may be of help. Think, guys, why would this window not have a curtain?"

Elaine thought for a moment, her eyes widened when an epiphany reached her. "You think the killer wanted someone to look through that window?"

"That sounds plausible" another voice replied. Kamiya stepped away from the glass, and there was the person Azalea had been looking for: Vittoria looked exactly like usual, she didn't seem concerned or like she felt guilty. When she saw Azalea, the heiress smiled calmly. _She doesn't look like someone who just killed a man..._

Talking with her about that while other people were nearby was something Azalea wanted to avoid, though. Even though she felt it was urgent, she decided it could wait until Kamiya and Elaine were away.

The pharmacist gestured for Elaine to move aside. "Lemme see what you saw" Once Elaine complied, he observed through the window for a few seconds before nodding, satisfied. "Interesting!"

"What did you see?"

"I can only see the stage. I see the chair where Sigrun was sitting on"

"Yes, that is what I saw" Vittoria confirmed. Kamiya moved to a side, putting his head as close to the wall as possible, trying to see what else he could observe through the window.

"I can't see where Thioro is at. You'd have to look through this other window to see Thioro"

 **Window**

 _The window Vittoria looked through. You can see the stage, the chair, and Sigrun's corpse. It's half-open, but not enough for someone to be able to unlock it further. You can't see Thioro from that window._

"Azalea, do you remember what you saw through this window?" Vittoria asked, pointing the one with the curtain above it. Once Azalea described what she saw, she went to the half-opened window and tried to make herself be heard:

"Vittoria, hit the glass a few times"

"With...with my fist?"

"Yes, that should be enough. Go ahead"

Unsure why Azalea requested that but obliging nonetheless, Vittoria hit the glass with her hands. She just needed to hit it a couple times before the curtain fell on the window, covering it. _I see!_ "The curtain was placed so badly it just needed vibrations for it to fall!" Azalea concluded.

"Anyone who saw Thioro getting ready to attack would try to get his attention. Maybe that's what the killer was counting on"

"You're talking like you don't think Thioro is the killer" Kamiya pointed out. Elaine pulled some strands of her out of her face, pensive.

"I think it's likely he is the killer, but I can't say it with 100% certainty. That's what the trial is for, to know if that's the right answer"

 **Curtain**

 _A curtain placed on a window. Falls down easily, covering one's sight. Through the window Azalea could only see Thioro. The window itself was closed and locked from the inside._

"Was this enlightening in some way, Sir Kamiya?" Vittoria asked, a note of irritation seeping into her voice. Kamiya hemmed and hawed, thinking twice what to say until he settled on a 'yeah, I guess'. "I am glad to hear that. In that case, shall we get ready for the trial!"

"Wait!" Azalea pushed the curtain aside and opened the window, trying to stop Vittoria. "I want to talk to you!" Vittoria raised a hand authoritatively, stopping her before she said anything.

"We can talk after the trial, Lady Azalea. For now I would like to focus on what is going to come"

"It's something I need to tell you before the trial!"

"I am sorry, but there is no time to talk" with a bit more coldness than necessary, she turned around and walked away in direction to the train station. As if that was the cue, the by-now familiar tone that preceded Monobear's announcements came out of the speakers around the resort.

"Uh, hello? I'm starting to get bored, so let's get the trial started. Are you all ready? Ready or not, get to the train station right now!"

 _I didn't even have a chance to talk to Vittoria._ All she could do now was hope her instinct was wrong, that Vittoria had nothing to do with the recent murder. If only there was something that could give Vittoria an alibi or something...

 _...wait a second..._

That was it! There may have been something! It was just her first thought, she wasn't sure if it'd hold under scrutiny, but it gave her a sliver of hope that maybe Vittoria was innocent. If she was right, then the most Vittoria could be was an _accomplice_! Which...was pretty bad, but at least it'd mean Vittoria wouldn't die. Feeling like not everything was as bad as it seemed at first sight, Azalea smiled to herself.

"Don't worry too much about Vittoria. She's just focusing on the trial" Elaine said, putting a hand on Azalea's shoulder. "Once it's over you can talk with her"

"You're right" Azalea said with fortitude. Kamiya chose that moment to say something and ruin the moment, though.

"Maybe she's being cold towards you because she suspects you"

"Why'd she suspect Azalea? Azalea would never kill someone!" Elaine airily said, swaying Azalea back and forth a bit. "The three of us are friends, we'll believe in each other to the end!"

"Y-Yeah, that's right" Azalea said, although she didn't have much conviction on that particular statement. For Elaine to have gotten so attached to them she'd say something like that...it was quite the far cry from the distant Elaine from the first few days since their arrival. There was something bittersweet in knowing she wasn't willing to suspect neither Vittoria nor Azalea, in knowing she believed in them so much. All Azalea hoped was that the trust Elaine had towards them wouldn't ever be betrayed.

Blissfully ignorant of the doubts Azalea had, Elaine smiled at her. "Let's get going. There's a trial to attend"

"Are you getting used to them?"

"You have to get used to this kind of stuff if you want to survive" she said. "I'm not happy about having to go through those trials, but...I'm trying to think of them as scenes I could use as inspiration for my next book. There's a lot of drama to be had in these situations, after all" _Whatever helps you cope, Elaine._ "I even plan to create characters similar to some of you. If this wasn't a deadly game, I'd almost be glad to be here"

"Some people would think that's callous"

"I'm not concerned about what people think. Frankly, my writing, my brother and myself have priority over everything else" she said with dignity, pretending to get some dust off her sweater. "That doesn't mean I want people here to die, but in the end, a good story is more important than people's feelings" There was no reply to that. Elaine turned around, noticing Azalea had stopped a bit further behind, staring at a pile of weapons. "Azalea?"

The motivator opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. After a moment of doubt, she shook her head, and tried to shoo Elaine away. "I just need a moment" Even though Elaine looked at her with worry, she nodded and went out of the building, although Azalea noticed the writer stayed near the door, waiting for her. It didn't matter, that was enough. Azalea approached the pile of weapons and started moving them, revealing something she had just glimpsed underneath, a metallic glint that had seemed different to the steel of the rest of the weapons. The weapons were heavy, but after a minute she was able to retrieve what it was:

A foldable ladder – made of aluminum, light and a bit flimsy. Azalea extended it at full length. It was rather long, but despite that, it was easy to lift. Had someone tried to hide that ladder underneath the weapons?

 **Ladder**

 _A foldable ladder, found inside the new building, hidden underneath weapons in the armory sector. Very light and long._

"Not so perfect of a closed room anymore" Azalea sentenced, leaving the ladder against the wall. When she exited the building, Elaine didn't ask what Azalea had found or why she didn't want her around while she examined whatever there was, but she did seem like she had a lot in her mind.

"A penny for your thoughts?" the writer inquired.

"It's nothing, I just have a lot in my head" Although...knowing Elaine, she wouldn't stop wondering about it unless she gave an excuse. Maybe there was something she could say to fool her? "There's something I haven't told anyone. Promise you're not going to suspect me?"

"Why'd I suspect you?" she crossed her arms, not liking the sound of that.

It was a tad painful to tell about what obviously had been an attempt to frame her for a murder, but Azalea managed to do so. It also helped that Elaine listened attentively, without asking questions. She dropped her arms halfway through Azalea's tale, realizing the implications of what she was saying. "You're completely sure you went to Monobear's office at 10:00 PM, right?"

"I'm...pretty sure" Azalea lied. She believed she didn't kill anyone, but the less likely it was, the better.

"Then you can't be the killer. Someone tried to frame you – they drugged you or something – and put you in the cabinet" Elaine looked at her from over her glasses. "If anyone says you're the killer then that person should be the main suspect. You haven't told anyone else, right?"

"I told Thioro, but..."

"It's not out of the question that Thioro was the one to try to frame you"

Azalea didn't reply. Had Thioro been the one to... "I really hope it wasn't him. He's the detective, detectives shouldn't..." No matter how hard she thought, she just couldn't deny the possibility.

 **Attempt to Frame Azalea**

 _Azalea was knocked out and placed inside the cabinets of the pharmacy. Her hands were coated in blood. She took off the drumstick off the doors and ran to her cottage, unnoticed._

"Being a detective doesn't make you unable to kill. You're aware he was the main suspect last time, right?" Maybe the real reason why Azalea didn't want to believe Thioro had tried to frame her for murder was because of how stupid she'd feel for trusting him. He'd have lied to her face, acted all friendly while also knowing he had been the one who caused her distress in the first place. He couldn't be that cruel, right? "We'll find out what happened. Don't despair, Azalea, we can do this"

"Y-Yeah...we can"

"Say it with more confidence, Azalea"

"We'll solve this murder and catch the culprit"

Elaine patted Azalea's arm. "That's better. Come on, let's get going before Monobear decides to drag us by our ears all the way to the train station"

Nobody in the train station seemed too worried. Did everyone already have an opinion about what happened? Azalea looked at Vittoria from the corner of her eye, trying to deduce how she felt. She didn't look worried at all. When Vittoria noticed Azalea was staring at her, she smiled kindly, but still refused to approach her. _I really wanted to talk to her..._ It was going to be rather unpleasant to start the trial with that cloud of suspicion over Vittoria.

There was nothing to do other than ride the train and wait to get to the courtroom. Azalea entered the train, immediately going to a window, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

 _I hope I'm wrong...please, let me be wrong just for once!_


	30. Chapter 4: Atonement V

By now Azalea could say Monobear's spiel by herself, relying on her own memory. While the bear recited it, like usual, she mouthed it in silence, drumming her fingers on the surface of her podium. "And will be free to go" she finished at unison with Monobear, wondering how many times more she'd have to hear it before the whole nightmare was over.

"We don't have much time to be fooling around" Lucien immediately said, taking control of the situation. "We got two victims again: Thioro and Sigrun, and unlike last time I really doubt they died by accident"

"The scene of the crime was the new building, at the music venue section. Unlike last time, the bodies had enough blood to indicate they died there. We should have no problem establishing that" Vittoria said.

"Exactly. Sigrun was killed with a katana, and Thioro was killed with a crossbow bolt. Two methods, but how many killers were involved?"

"Two? Since it was so different?" Azalea wondered.

"That is what we have to discuss now: how many culprits were involved in this incident?" _It shouldn't be too difficult to find out, I guess, but I have no idea right now._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

Curtain / Ladder / Violin / Gauze Bandages / Floorstanding Loudspeaker

* * *

AZALEA: Did the same person kill Thioro and Sigrun?

LUCIEN: I believe it was one person.

MATTHEW: Even though it was two different murder methods?

ELAINE: I agree with Lucien

ELAINE: Because the killer must have prepared...

ELAINE: ... **everything they needed** for this crime.

KOUMA: Elaine is right!

KOUMA: The killer brought the weapons, **the chair**...

KOUMA: The only stuff they couldn't have prepared...

KOUMA: ...was stuff that was **already inside the building**!

LUCIEN: There's a chance there's two different culprits

LUCIEN: But that'd require similarities between both murders

LUCIEN: And **there were none**.

MATTHEW: I'm not sure about that logic

MATTHEW: But I can't argue against that.

* * *

Azalea crossed her arms. No, something had to be wrong about what Elaine said...there was something the killer couldn't have prepared, right? "There's an object the killer can't have gotten their hands on before: the crossbow. Sigrun owned that crossbow, and she never left it out of her sight"

"Maybe it happened this one time—"

"The crossbow was her main weapon. She would never be so careless as to leave it where anyone could take it"

"Wouldn't that mean Sigrun herself took the crossbow to that building?" Elaine clarified, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "How could anyone take the crossbow from her?"

Kamiya covered the holes on his mask over his mouth with a hand, sighing with a droning noise. "We don't know what happened with her. She may have given the crossbow to her killer, or she was assaulted and the killer took the crossbow, or something else happened – we won't know for sure!"

"You think it's useless to talk about that?" Lucien asked.

"Exactly! Let's focus on the facts we can prove. For example! Sigrun took the crossbow to the building, and that's all we need to know. We also know Thioro died because he was shot with the crossbow"

"Do you think Sigrun killed Thioro?" Matthew wondered.

That was when Vittoria intervened. She adjusted her right glove, looking rather flippant for a murder trial. "That is a possibility. I remember seeing Lady Solheim sitting on that chair, with her crossbow on her lap. At the same time, Lady Azalea saw Sir Meziane nearby, holding the katana"

"That makes it sound like they killed each other" Lucien pointed out.

"Let's consider that may be what happened, okay?" Matthew said. "Sigrun fired a crossbow bolt at Thioro, and then he stabbed her with the katana, skewering her into the chair. It can't have been backwards because...you know how hard it'd be to shoot a crossbow while you have a katana through your gut?"

"Is that true, Azalea?" Dalia inquired. Azalea wasted no time in confirming what Vittoria had said. "It does sound like they killed each other"

"...I'm not sure they did. There's an object in the crime scene that simply doesn't fit that scenario. Imagine, uh..." Azalea gestured with her hands, unsure how to illustrate her point. "Imagine you're standing here with a crossbow. You shot someone else, and that person is coming towards you with a katana. What would you do?"

"I'd run away, of course!"

"Anyone would run away, so why—"

"Yeah, exactly!" Azalea had the feeling Dalia understood what her point was. "Anyone would try to run away. The part that's strange about this whole thing is...

* * *

 _Sigrun was sitting on a chair_

 _Thioro had the crossbow_

 _Sigrun wasn't visible_

 _Thioro was already on the floor_

* * *

 ** _Sigrun was sitting on a chair_**

* * *

"Isn't it strange Sigrun would just sit there and let herself be killed?"

"That _does_ sound strange" Kamiya agreed. "And I don't think Sigrun would have been so stupid as to think someone holding a katana wouldn't be dangerous. There must be a reason why she was sitting there"

"There is a reason" Lucien said, raising his voice enough to make everyone else be silent. Once he was sure everyone was listening to him, he continued: "I think when Sigrun was seen on that chair, she was already dead"

"That would explain that, yes" Vittoria nodded. "However, Lady Azalea saw Sir Meziane about to attack Lady Solheim. How do you intend to explain that contradiction"

Lucien glanced at Azalea. He wasn't happy about doing this, but in his opinion, it was a necessary evil. "You're putting too much stock on Azalea's testimony. Look, what I'm trying to say is...

...Azalea may be the culprit of this case"

"Me?" Azalea pretended to be surprised. She had been expected to be accused, and there it was! It happened. Elaine mumbled 'so he's the culprit...', just loud enough for Azalea to hear. It was certainly a possibility that Lucien had at the very least killed Thioro – he had the opportunity to do it – but...had he done it?

They had absolutely no proof Lucien was the killer besides he having the chance. It was the same with Vittoria, other than the chance there was no decisive evidence against her. How were they supposed to decide which one was more likely to be the killer?

"Yes, you" Lucien said. "You're the only one who saw Thioro raising the katana to kill Sigrun. You have the chance to lie about what you saw through that window"

"I hate to admit it but Lucien's not talking nonsense right now..." Matthew admitted.

"What about Vittoria? She's the only one who saw Sigrun through the window" Kamiya asked. Kouma saw her chance to jump into the discussion right in that moment.

"I didn't check the windows a lot, but when I looked, I—I saw the windows were different" _Ah, that's true! There was a difference between those windows! The important difference is that..._

* * *

 _One was open_

 _One was locked_

 _One had a curtain_

 _One was broken_

* * *

 ** _One had a curtain_**

* * *

"The window I looked through had a curtain. Sure, Vittoria's window was a bit open, but that doesn't change anything" The curtain was the only other thing that was different, so Azalea went for that.

"Exactly! That's the point. Anyone could have looked through Vittoria's window and see what she saw, but Azalea's window had a curtain. Once she saw through it, nobody else could see anything" Lucien pointed. "If she's the killer that's a way to make sure nobody could contradict her!"

"You seem rather sure about this accusation, Lucien" Kamiya said. The marine biologist shook his head, his face inexpressive.

"No. I'm not certain at all, but I do believe this warrants discussion. I know how we all feel towards Azalea, but we can't let that get in the way of our survival" he closed his eyes. "If we have to get her executed to survive, then we have to do it. We're not going to sacrifice all of us just to spare her, _are we_?"

A heavy silence gave emphasis to his words. Everyone knew he was right, that just because Azalea was greatly esteemed by everyone, it didn't mean they could let her get away with murder, if she did do it. "Sir Balboa is correct. Let is discuss this seriously" Vittoria tightened her tie, looking at Azalea with a strange look in her eyes. _Does she suspect me too?_ There was no time to keep wondering about that. She had to prove her innocence!

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Violin / Injection Marks / Gauze Bandages / Katana / Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton_

* * *

MATTHEW: If Azalea is the killer...

MATTHEW: ...how did she do it?

LUCIEN: I have a theory. Let's discuss it.

LUCIEN: I think when Azalea and the others looked through the windows...

LUCIEN **: Sigrun was already dead**.

LUCIEN: To cover her tracks...

LUCIEN: She looked through **the window with the curtain**.

LUCIEN: She had **previously placed the curtain** on the top

LUCIEN: So it'd fall when **she hit the glass**.

KOUMA: What about what Vittoria saw?

VITTORIA: I do not remember seeing anything unusual.

LUCIEN: As I said, Sigrun was dead.

LUCIEN: There should be **no differences** between what Vittoria saw...

LUCIEN: ...and how the body was.

MATTHEW: Seriously, Azalea, this isn't in your favor.

MATTHEW: You can argue, right?

* * *

"I can" Azalea slammed the top of her podium with a hand. "No differences? That's simply not true!"

"I suppose you can prove whatever argument you're going to make, right?" Lucien didn't sound impressed.

"Of course I can prove it. When I looked through the window, I saw Thioro had the katana—"

"What you saw is not proof because you can lie!" he roared. Azalea held back a snappy remark, instead smiling the cat that ate the canary.

"If you can't trust my words, then how about Vittoria says it? Because if I saw the katana, then the katana wasn't piercing Sigrun's body"

The implication of what Azalea said was obvious. Kamiya leaned towards Vittoria, curious. "Did you see the katana in Sigrun's body?"

"No...it was not there. In fact, if I had not found out later she was dead, I would have thought she was asleep on that chair"

"Urgh..." Lucien cringed. "I see...alright" He had no counter to what Azalea had said.

Kouma hit his palm with a fist, pouncing on what Vittoria had said. "Wait, that may be what's going on! Maybe Sigrun wasn't dead when they looked through the windows, she—she could have been just unconscious!"

"And later when they went to look for us, she was killed for real?" Azalea crossed her arms, considering the theory. _No, that's impossible..._

Elaine smiled, encouraged. "In that case Azalea simply can't be the killer. She and I went together to look for the rest, she couldn't have gone inside to kill anyone!"

"That would clear Azalea of any suspicion, indeed..." Lucien admitted.

It pained Azalea to throw away such an easy way to clear her own name, but it had to be done. They had to solve the case, obfuscating the facts would be of no help. "I'm rather sure that's impossible. Sigrun wasn't knocked out or drugged or anything like that"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

* * *

 **Monobear File #4**

* * *

"If you look at the Monobear File, you'll see there's a note in Thioro's part of the file," Azalea explained. "It outright says Thioro had a bruise on his head, because someone hit him, but it wasn't the cause of death.

If Sigrun had been drugged or knocked out, I think the file would have mentioned it somehow!"

"You know...you're right. She can't have been unconscious on that chair," Matthew said. "In that case, she must have been already dead when Vittoria looked through the window"

"That's right what I was thinking. There's a simple scenario for that, one that shows how it's possible for Azalea to have killed Sigrun with the katana and then lie about what she saw," Lucien said. "I hope you're prepared, Azalea. If you can't think of a rebuttal, this will seal your doom" _Bring it on, I'll counter whatever you have prepared!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Curtain / Chair / Window / Hat Stand / Marks on Wrists_

* * *

LUCIEN: Sigrun was **already dead** by the time...

LUCIEN: ...those three looked through the windows.

KOUMA: How did she kill her?

LUCIEN: First she trapped Sigrun by getting her to sit...

LUCIEN: ...and used **the katana** to kill her!

ELAINE: Wait a second!

ELAINE: How did she get Sigrun to stay on that chair?!

LUCIEN: Let me finish, please!

LUCIEN: To fool Sigrun, she **took the sword out**

LUCIEN: And put it somewhere else.

LUCIEN: Vittoria saw Sigrun's corpse

LUCIEN: While Azalea lied while looking through the other window

VITTORIA: And when we walked away, she...

LUCIEN: She entered the building

LUCIEN: **Skewered Sigrun again** , and...

LUCIEN: ...and **went to get other people** to come!

ELAINE: There are so many holes in this theory.

ELAINE: This is going to be easy, Azalea.

* * *

Indeed, just like Elaine had said, there were many potential holes to pick on, but Lucien had only vocalized a specific one. It was a good way to start her counterattack, at least. "Are you sure I put the katana back into Sigrun's corpse?"

Lucien, dismissive, clicked his tongue against his teeth. "If you're going to say you're too squeamish to do that—"

"That's not it! Lucien, the chair Sigrun was sitting on was perforated only once, you were the one who said that to me!" he said. "I couldn't have taken the sword out and put it back later"

"...hm. That's quite the conundrum" Even though he tried to sound nonchalant, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"I fail to see the problem. It is possible when Ms. Solheim was killed, she was not sitting on the chair. That would solve that contradiction" Vittoria said, much to Azalea's horror. _What are you doing?!_

"Hold it, that's not the only problem! Azalea went with me to get other people, she never entered the building again!" Elaine added with a lot of conviction, glancing at Vittoria with something near to disgust. The strain between the group of friends was already making them grow apart. Azalea hoped this wouldn't make their friendship awkward later.

"How did Azalea lock the building with the drumstick from the outside, anyway?" Matthew wondered. Nobody was able to answer that.

Lucien passed his hands through his spiky hair, not liking how he was losing control of the situation. "She could have broken the drumstick beforehand and placed it in front of the doors, it actually was closed from the outside with...glue or something..."

"There was nothing like that on the door" Kamiya replied immediately, the marine biologist doubled over as if punched in the gut.

"Damn it...damn it!"

"Face it, Lucien: your theory doesn't hold any water"

"I get it, okay? So what? At least I tried to find the killer!"

"You cannot shame Sir Balboa for trying" Vittoria intervened "Not only that, I believe he may be onto something here"

Azalea's eyes widened. "Vittoria!"

"I am sorry, Lady Azalea, but you have not been cleared yet. I concede the arguments you have made are hard to argue against, but I believe they are not enough to mark you as innocent"

"But I can't have placed that drumstick!"

"Maybe you are correct. However, there's something I'd like you to explain" she leaned forward "Can you please tell us why this morning you were running around with blood on yourself?"

"She _what_?" Dalia turned her head towards Vittoria. "What are you talking about?"

"This morning, a couple hours before Lady Sigrun and Sir Meziane were found, I saw Azalea running into her cottage. Her cardigan was splattered with blood" she explained.

Elaine pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her face was calm, but her hand was trembling a bit. "Alright…why didn't you mention it before?"

"I did not want to accuse Lady Azalea without confirmation it would have been the right thing to do" she closed her eyes. "I did not want to make a breach between her and me…but I can not stay silent anymore"

"Can you explain what she's talking about, Azalea? I noticed you haven't tried to deny it" Kamiya said slowly. The motivator looked down at her podium, a bit conflicted. She didn't like what Vittoria was doing – in fact, it was increasing her suspicions on Vittoria – but it wasn't like she could do anything about that now. The only thing to do was explain what had happened.

Her story lasted a few minutes. She told how she found herself awake in cabinets in the pharmacy, how her hands had been covered with blood, and how she had taken off the drumstick off the door and ran away to her cottage. "…that must have been when Vittoria saw me" she admitted.

"Are you sure you saw nothing weird or dead anywhere?"

"Nothing at all. At the time being I thought it was my own blood, but now I don't know to whom or what it belonged to…"

"That is a very convenient story, Lady Azalea" Vittoria didn't seem impressed by Azalea's tale. With insidious voice, she looked like a cat about to pounce on her prey. "How can we be sure you are not omitting what may be an inconvenient truth for you?"

"N-No, everything I said was the truth!"

"So you say, but can you prove it?"

"Vittoria, I didn't kill anyone, I swear I didn't. You don't have proof either I did something like that!" It felt dirty to counter with the same weak argument, but what other option did she have? She had to think of something, and quickly.

"That is what you say. Do you have proof you did not?" she closed her eyes. "Simply because we do not know something, does not mean it did not happen. Maybe all we lack is proof"

"I refuse to work with theories, Vittoria" Dalia said. After everything that had happened during the last three trials, she knew working on hypothesis and theories without much proof was risky, especially if there were no good arguments supporting them.

"Then do not" the heiress adjusted her coat methodically. "Let is say this: if you can give me one more proof you can not be the culprit, I shall leave you alone. What do you say, Lady Azalea?"

Azalea squared her shoulders, hiding behind her glare how much it hurt that Vittoria was pursuing her so much. "Of course I accept! I can prove it by...uh..." _but I have no more proof! If I had time maybe I could think of something, but right now—_

"Lady Azalea?"

Pressured, Azalea impulsively decided to take a big risk. She needed more evidence, she needed a way to fend off Vittoria and anyone else, and if she didn't have proof in hand right now, then she had to look in the one place she hadn't examined carefully.

"Admins, we'd like to use your help now, like we have done in all the past trials" she said.

" _We_?" Lucien sputtered.

"Hold on a second, you can't just decide by yourself when we're using this!" Dalia shouted, gripping the edges of her podium with restrained anger. Was Azalea being unconvincing? In Dalia's opinion, her behavior was off "What do you even want to get them to check?"

"The cabinet I woke up in" Azalea answered.

Lucien rubbed his eyes with his hands, starting to feel tired. "...fine. Let's let that happen"

"Are you sure? Shouldn't we use this chance for later?" Kamiya wondered, Lucien shook his head.

"I never said we'd let her use this for free. Azalea, listen here" he crossed his arms. "We're placing one of our best tools in trials in your hands. If you find nothing useful, that'll be your end – because that means you'd have gotten us to waste something we rely on. Do you understand?

If you can't find anything to make your argument, you're as good as guilty in my eyes"

"D-Does everyone agree with that?" Azalea asked, looking around, cold sweat going down the sides of her face. That was a bit more of pressure than she was used to, the first and hopefully only time she'd be under such heavy suspicion. Almost everyone agreed with Lucien. _This is bad...I better find something or we'll all die!_

"Let's see...so do you want us to go check the cabinets in the pharmacy, right?" Spots confirmed. Once she got the confirmation she wanted, the large screen descended from the ceiling, turning on while the administrators arrived to the rest of Heavenly Resort, and went to the new building.

The pharmacy cabinets didn't seem to have anything strange on them. Azalea narrowed her eyes a little, feeling nervous. There had to be something...! "Okay...check the surface of the counter"

"There's nothing worth reporting here" Stripes said, showing how there was nothing left on the counter. _Oh crap..._

"I don't like how this looks" Kouma whispered to the hostage beside her, just loud enough for Azalea to hear her. Trying to hide the goosebumps she was starting to feel, Azalea feigned calm, gesturing with a hand to move downwards.

"Okay, now check the cabinet doors. Pay special attention to the handles"

The camera looked closer onto the round handles the cabinet doors had. They were completely spotless, not even a drop of blood on them or nearby. "You got to be kidding..." Azalea hissed between her teeth.

"This means if there's anything worth finding it has to be _inside_ the cabinet, then?" Kamiya pondered.

"It's the only place where something can be. What are you waiting for, Azalea? Tell them to open the doors" Lucien moved his head, encouraging Azalea to give the order once and for all. Azalea swallowed. Behind her podium she clasped her hands, her face refused to even twitch, and tshe old the administrators to open the cabinet doors and look inside. A pair of plush paws grabbed the handles and threw the doors open, showing just what was inside.

Empty.

It was difficult to know what to say about that. Nobody knew for sure what to say, not even Azalea. She stared at the screen, feeling a creeping cold sensation growing on the back of her neck. That had been her last chance, and nothing had come from it. There was nothing in the cabinets, how to prove she was innocent if there was nothing? Not even the fact the cabinets were empty were of any help.

"That is unfortunate" Vittoria said, breaking the icy silence. She didn't sound like someone who had just won, it was more like the voice of someone who had resigned to throwing somebody under the bus. "I am afraid your gambit has yielded no results, Lady Azalea. If I recall correctly, you had made a deal with Sir Balboa, did not you?"

"I hate to admit it, Azalea, but this doesn't look good for you" Matthew said quietly, scratching behind his ear. "I thought you'd be able to pull this off, but—"

"Wait! Let me think for a moment!" Azalea begged, examining the inside of the cabinet. There was absolutely nothing! Not even dust, or blood, or anything that showed she had ever been inside. "Guys, you have to believe me, I didn't do it!"

"Are you attempting to back down of your deal, Lady Azalea? Please do not. Defeat must be taken with dignity"

"Shut up!" Azalea shouted at Vittoria. "Why are you so convinced I did it? Vittoria, we're friends!"

"I am more than aware you suspect me, Lady Azalea. Suspecting a friend is not a privilege only you can use"

 _I can't believe it…I lost?_ It was hard to believe that after having managed to succeed with her reasoning in three different trials she had now failed when it mattered the most. Where had she gone wrong? "So…it's over? Azalea killed someone?" Dalia asked to nobody in particular. She couldn't believe it, but Azalea hadn't been able to refute the crux of the accusations against her.

"She may have killed Sigrun. I don't see a way for her to have killed Thioro" Elaine conceded, much to Azalea's chagrin. Even though the writer was speaking between her teeth, as if she was angry, her face showed a deep betrayal. _Even she thinks I did it…?_

She was utterly alone.

"Thanks, admis" Elaine said "I think we're done here" the camera moved, turning away from the inside of the cabinet and moving upwards. Whatever admin whose point of view this was had barely started to walk, intending to return to the courtroom, when a yell interrupted the trial:

"Wait!"

Elaine's scream stopped the admin in their tracks. The writer had stood up on the tip of her toes, looking up at the screen with hopeful expression. When she noticed everyone was looking at her, the writer adjusted her glasses dismissively, focusing on the screen. "Go back. I think I saw something odd"

"Something odd? Like what?" Lucien asked.

"I'm not sure. I just know I saw something. Return to the cabinets immediately!"

"Okay, you don't have to take that tone with us, missy" Stripes chided, but the camera returned to the open cabinets. While it moved, a couple of the other hostages noticed what Elaine had suddenly raised a ruckus about. _What is it? What are they looking at?_ No matter how much Azalea looked inside the cabinet, she couldn't see anything off.

"What's that…?" Matthew didn't understand very well what it was, and not because it was audden.

"I can't say for sure but it looks like part of a handprint" Elaine pointed. "Look there, at the inside of the door"

That'd when Azalea finally saw it. On the surface of the face of the door that'd be towards the inside of the cabinet. It was faint, but it could be seen. Two fingers, what seemed to be part of a palm, it was imprinted on the wood and towards the edge of the board – and it was made with a dark red substance that was most likely blood. "If that handprint is in that place, then the other door must have more of that print, right?" Azalea felt the hope starting to grow in her.

The camera turned towards the side. It had barely focused on the inside of the other door when Vittoria nodded, knowing what she was seeing. "Indeed. There is the rest of the handprint. I can see three fingers"

"A handprint made of blood, and on the inside of the cabinet…who made it?" Azalea asked rhetorically. Everyone answered with 'you'. "Exactly. I must have been the one who made that handprint – I remember my hands were stained in blood"

"This could be your chance to make your case. Does this handprint help you in any way?" at least Lucien seemed willing to listen to her. Azalea tapped her chin, thinking. Now that she thought about it…

"Yeah…yeah, I think this is just what I needed. Look at that handprint" Azalea directed. "Check it out, this is what proves I can't have killed someone. The main quality you must keep in mind is…"

* * *

 _What it's made of_

 _The number of fingers_

 _The position on the doors_

 _The moment it was made_

* * *

 ** _The position on the doors_**

* * *

"Look where the handprint is at. If you close the doors, it'll be right between the doors, see?"

"I see...you're trying to say the only way a handprint could be there is if the doors were closed, right?" Lucien theorized, receiving a nod from Azalea.

"Exactly! Only someone who was inside the cabinet at the time being could have left that handprint!"

Dalia played with her braid, her fingers tracing the flexible branch twisted into it. "Hold on, couldn't someone have made it while the doors were open?" _She's not saying I did it...I'll take that as a good sign._

"It wouldn't be so precise. I think it's undeniable the doors were closed" Kamiya said.

Talking about her bloodied hands gave Azalea another epiphany. "Wait, now that I think about it...I couldn't have even opened the cabinet doors in the first place!"

"Really? You can prove that part too, right?"

"Remember my hands were covered with blood. This part shows I didn't open the cabinet!"

* * *

 _The handles_

 _The top_

 _The inside_

 _The handprint_

* * *

 ** _The handles_**

* * *

"There was no blood on the round handles of the doors. If my hands were so covered in blood they left such a handprint in the inside, it's impossible the handles wouldn't have blood if I had touched them"

"You couldn't have used the bandages or the towel to open the cabinet, either. The blood would have rubbed onto the fabric and you wouldn't have been able to leave the handprint" Elaine added.

"While that's true, you could have cleaned any blood on those handles" Kamiya proposed, although he sounded more like he was saying this just to cover bases than because he truly believed Azalea had done such a roundabout thing.

"I cannot say that's believable, but..." Vittoria looked at Azalea "Do you have a counter for that argument?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. It's not unshakeable, but I can show you something that proves I had blood on my hands all the time"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

* * *

 **Broken Drumstick**

* * *

"When I went to leave the building, I found the doors were locked with a drumstick. I took the drumstick and threw it aside. If I had my hands covered with blood..."

"Then the drumstick would have blood on it" Elaine concluded "I remember seeing that drumstick while we were investigating, and it did have _blood_!"

"There you have it. I'm not lying, that's everything that happened! I didn't kill anyone!" Azalea finished his case, hoping everyone would stop suspecting her. It worked, nobody was in a hurry anymore to accuse her, not even Lucien or Vittoria.

"...I guess that settles it. Azalea isn't as big of a suspect as we thought" Matthew said "She's not cleared, but it's unlikely she is the killer"

"Perhaps" Kamiya conceded. It was nice to think she wasn't the culprit "But there's something that bothers me about all this: whose blood did Azalea have in her hands?"

Elaine blinked, doing a sound of disbelief. "That's right, someone must have bled on Azalea or stained her hands with blood. It's unlikely it's the culprit's blood, so whose blood is it?" _I think I have an idea of whose blood it could be..._

* * *

 _Sigrun_

 _Azalea_

 _Thioro_

 _Vittoria_

* * *

 ** _Sigrun_**

* * *

Azalea looked at the palms of her hands. All traces of blood were gone, but talking about it made her feel like her skin suddenly had that substance all over it again. "I think it's Sigrun's blood"

"Sigrun? Why?"

"Because it wasn't my blood, and Thioro was alive some time after I woke up. I doubt he bled all over me at any point. That leaves Sigrun as the only possibility"

 **YOU HAVE TO BE WRONG!**

Azalea didn't even turn around when Matthew shouted. The McCoys had challenged her in every trial until now, by now she had expected it to happen. She smiled serenely and acknowledged him. "I assure you I have given this a lot of thought"

"It's not a matter of giving it a lot of thought, it's just that it contradicts what you and Vittoria said you saw. How can you explain that?"

"That's something we'll have to talk about, but maybe later...?"

"I just want you to show me there's a possibility you're right. Just show me that _could_ be what happened, okay?"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Missing Cravat / Violin Crossbow / Monobear File #4 / Attempt to Frame Azalea / Marks on Wrists_

* * *

MATTHEW: Everything so far is based on two testimonies

MATTHEW: Yours…

MATTHEW: …and Vittoria's

MATTHEW: And now you're going to contradict it all!

MATTHEW: Even your own testimony!

MATRHEW: Do you even realize what you're doing?

AZALEA: I know I'm contradicting myself

AZALEA: But this is where my reasoning has led me to

MATTHEW: I haven't seen shred of this reasoning of yours yet

MATTHEW: If you say you have a reason, then prove it

MATTHEW: Prove that Sigrun didn't die **right before** Thioro

MATTHEW: Or do you think she actually died **after Thioro**?

MATTHEW: The only thing I'm sure is that she was **still alive last night**

MATTHEW: What's your new argument, Azalea?

* * *

Matthew had requested anything that could show the possibility existed. Sigrun's blood on Azalea's hands were proof she had died earlier, but that wasn't enough. Maybe she could prove it with this…? She took out the Monobear File. "I'd like all of you to read the file. Do you see how there's no time of death listed here?"

"You're correct, there's no time of death for neither Thioro nor Sigrun" hgrahr said, reading their own file.

"I think that was Monobear's attempt to obfuscate the truth. There's no room for argument about when Thioro died, but nothing guarantees Sigrun died shortly after Vittoria and I saw Thioro ready to strike"

"In that case…" hgreahw started, noticing what Azalea's argument was going to be.

"Yes. The truth is that Sigrun died hours before Vittoria and I saw everything!"

In her mind it was a very persuasive argument, but did everyone else agree? She couldn't tell. A lot of the hostages' faces still showed a lot of hesitation, nobody was in a hurry to accept Azalea's argument. Did they still consider her a suspect?

"Azalea might be right…it's just a theory, but she may be onto something here" Elaine said with doubts.

"Really? I'm not convinced" Kouma shook her head "She's good at connecting the dots - and that gives her the chance to twist everything...I think"

"You still think she's the killer?"

"I do find myself skeptical of Lady Azalea is posturing…" Vittoria crossed her arms. "I will continue to reject it"

Lucien looked around, sighing between his teeth. "Please don't tell me we're split—" As if those were the magic words, Monobear sprung from his seat, jumping excitedly.

"What? Already? I can't believe this! You guys are blazing through this trial! Usually this would happen in the second chapter of the trial, not in the first!"

"Wait what?" Kouma asked, but the bear ignored her, instead preparing the podiums to move.

"You guys know the drill already. Get ready and convince the other side!" _We need a coherent argument or else half of us are going to continue working with the wrong assumptions. I can't let this fail!_

* * *

 **Scrum Debate**

AZALEA: Sigrun

AZALEA: Injury

AZALEA: Blood

MATTHEW: Framing

ELAINE: Culprit

MATTHEW: Suspicion

AZALEA: Statement

* * *

KOUMA: Sigrun died when Thioro stabbed her

AZALEA: Even though Azalea had **Sigrun** 's blood on her?

VITTORIA: That blood may not be Sigrun is!

AZALEA: Whose **blood** is it, then?

LUCIEN: It could be Azalea's blood. She was knocked out, so she may have an injury

AZALEA: She already said she had no **injuries**

VITTORIA: can we even trust Azalea is statement?

AZALEA: We also have your **statement** about what you saw!

VITTORIA: What I saw does not clear her from suspicion!

MATTHEW: Wouldn't she try to avoid **suspicion** by not running around all bloody?

VITTORIA: What about the culprit? Where did they go?

ELAINE: The **culprit** must have left the crime scene somehow!

KOUMA: And they left Azalea inside to try to frame her? That's ludicrous!

MATTHEW: All crimes need a scapegoat. Azalea is getting **framed** , why don't you get it?

* * *

Her side's arguments were weak and Azalea knew it. She had evidence, but anyone could argue that all was just her own interpretation of the events, instead of a faithful retelling of everything that happened. Still…even though she didn't have anything better, she and those that believed in her had managed to repeal the other side's onslaught. It wasn't a decisive victory, but at least the others weren't able to make the rest doubt Azalea, and that was as good as a win right now.

Hreah bit hraw lip, nervous. hgrwa couldn't get out of hre mind the possibility that maybe Azalea was telling the truth. Hraw wasn't convinced yet, but there were enough reasonable arguments for gerawg to not know what to do.

"We're at a standstill" hgre declared.

It was true. The progress of the trial all relied on what decision they'd all take about Azalea. Without taking a decision on that, how were they supposed to proceed? "What are we going to do? I don't think anyone here has changed sides"

The debate was interrupted when Monobear yelled from his seat, sounding extremely surprised and taken aback. "You want to do _WHAT_?!" Everyone stared at the bear, unsure where that had come from.

"…what do you mean?" Lucien asked, unsure where this was going. Monobear looked around in what resembled panic.

"Oh. Ohohoho, just forget about that" Monobear waved a paw, as if that was going to make everybody forget his outburst. "It's just my admins are being naughty, no big deal. You focus back on the trial!"

Nyrhn stared at Monobear for a moment longer. "Okaaaaay…going back to what we were talking about: What you guys have said is plausible, but—it's just that anyone can be a killer, you know. Even Azalea has the potential to kill" grahw said.

"She didn't. She was framed by the real killer, and then they tried to—"

"Hold on" Vittoria interrupted, raising a hand. She wasn't nearly as nervous as the rest, confident in herself and her thoughts, and now she intended to give to everyone some of that assurance. "I now notice something that will destroy Lady Azalea s side once and for all: a fatal flaw that will turn their argument around"

Azalea had to gather all her courage to not look away when Vittoria locked eyes with her. "Do you? Really?"

"Indeed, really. I want to bring to attention a detail about Lady Azalea is story that is particularly noteworthy. Let is remember what Lady Azalea said" she clasped her hands behind her back, reciting very clearly and carefully: "'I removed the drumstick from the door and threw it aside' You insist this statement is the truth, is it not, Lady Azalea?"

"O-Of course it's the truth, but why are you—"

"In that case, I would like to call attention to a certain impossibility: it is impossible the culprit left the building, in that case"

"The killer could have been hiding up in the air or in the back room" Kouma noted, but Vittoria shook her head.

"That is not going to work. If the killer had still been in that building, they would have noticed Lady Azalea left the premises – or am I wrong?"

"I'm not sure where you're going with this, but please continue" Lucien frowned. Clearly Vittoria had an argument in mind, but what was it?

"She has suggested there is a killer trying to frame her, and she took off the drumstick from the doors. In that case, the culprit would have been inside the building. Answer me this:

How would the culprit not notice Lady Azalea left, if they intended to turn her into the scapegoat? It would not work very well if Lady Azalea was gone!"

Azalea grimaced, realizing Vittoria was right. Unless she could find an explanation to that, the foundations of her arguments were going to be in doubt. "I'm sure there has to be a good explanation for that" Matthew said, although he didn't sound that convinced.

"Then please be forthcoming and explain that. May I add that the door is the only way out of that building?" she drummed her fingers against her arm. "There is no such thing as hidden passages or doors, and if any windows had been open, Lady Azalea would have noticed them"

"There are windows that are always open, but they're too high to reach, and the entrance doors are locked. Are there any other options?" Lucien wondered. Even though he was still skeptical, it seemed Azalea had done a well enough job for him to at least consider she was innocent. Nobody gave him a good answer, so he looked at Azalea. "Looks like this theoretical culprit trapped you in a building and simply vanished in the air"

"N-No, I can explain it" Azalea assured him, forcing herself to think of something quick. "There's actually an explanation for that, and I got it"

"...Lady Azalea, a true fighter also has to know when to surrender. Fighting without arguments will only embarrass you"

"What the _hell,_ Vittoria?!"

The heiress clasped her hands together, bowing her head. "Have some dignity, will you?" I _can't believe this..._ Only someone who was trying to cover up her own crimes would try to hurry the trial, that much Azalea was convinced of now! She had done it; she had killed Thioro. As much as she hated to admit, Vittoria was trying to throw them all under the bus!

Feeling the anger bubbling inside her, Azalea grit her teeth and shouted: "I'm not giving up! Listen, there is a way for the killer to leave the building even after they placed that drumstick there, and I'll prove it to you! So shut up already!"

"...how undignified. Alright then, I am listening"

* * *

 **Panic Talk Battle**

* * *

VITTORIA: This is futile

VITTORIA: There can not be a viable explanation

VITTORIA: Must you lie so much?

VITTORIA: Confess your crime

VITTORIA: What you speak of is nonsense!

VITTORIA: There is no way you can explain that!

VITTORIA: Not good enough

VITTORIA: Stop dragging this on!

VITTORIA: I am getting tired of you

VITTORIA: Such stubbornness

* * *

 ** _The culprit had no way to leave the building._**

* * *

 **Light Ladder Out of the Window**

* * *

"It's just like Lucien said. The only way out of the building is through the window"

"Azalea, like I also said – and you conveniently left out – those windows are too high to reach" Lucien said.

"Not if you had a ladder"

Lucien frowned. "A ladder? What?"

"I found a ladder in the building, hidden in the armory part. It was a rather light ladder, I think the killer used it to climb to the window and used it to descend on the other side!"

"A ladder is a very – it's a long thing! You can't just lift it and not lose balance!" Kouma argued.

"That's true, but it's a _very light_ ladder. Even if someone was sitting on top of the window, I think it's possible the killer managed to lift it and place it on the other side!"

"Ridiculous! This is—this is ridiculous! Something as long as tat—"

"...but it would explain how a killer would escape" Vittoria begrudgingly admitted "It does not mean that actually happened, but the possibility exists"

The pharmacist near her leaned in her direction, he sounded a tad baffled. "You're folding like that all of a sudden? You were arguing very hard there was no escape!"

"I told you, one needs to know how to lose with dignity. I acknowledge I lost this particular point"

"...I dunno..." Matthew said, slowly stretching the word like a drawl "...there's something weird about how you're backing down. Vittoria isn't a suspect, is she?"

"Nothing about Sigrun's death says she killed Sigrun" Dalia replied.

"Her behavior is a bit off today. Come on, you all have noticed, right?" the engineer looked around, trying to make them realize what he thought was obvious "What's up with that?"

"I do not think there is anything off about my demeanor, Sir McCoy"

Lucien examined her expression carefully. "I have to agree, Vittoria, you have been a lot more forceful today than usual"

"I simply am assertive. There is nothing wrong about it – unless you believe there is a reason I would be on edge?"

"There's a reason" Azalea said. She folded her hands, holding herself together for what she was going to say. "Guys, there's not many reasons for one to be so antsy during the trial. Given the evidence, I think there's grounds to think Vittoria may have…done something bad"

"Something bad? Surely you have something more definite than that, Lady Azalea?" Vittoria said, a hint of coldness in her voice. Cringing, Azalea swallowed and prepared herself.

"There were two victims, so we need to find both killers, if it's not the same one. I can't say it with 100% certainty—"

"Then it may be prudent to not say anything" Vittoria pressured, frustrating Azalea. No, she had to say something! Vittoria really was hiding her crimes, what else could be happening?!

"Let's get straight to the point: I don't know yet who killed Sigrun, but I can…I think…

…th-the person who killed Thioro was…it was…" she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to complete the sentence and finish her accusation, but in that moment a voice nobody expected sounded from the courtroom entrance.

"The person who killed _me_?"

All heads turned to the entrance, where a person was standing there, flanked by the two stuffed animals that were the administrators. Stripes was holding the person's wrist, as if making sure he wouldn't try to run away.

He had no coat, his tie was well-placed, and his ponytail was undone, his hair falling like a waterfall around his head. There was a large bandage peeking from underneath his shirt, covering the part of him that had been hit by a crossbow bolt.

Thioro Meziane had arrived.


	31. Chapter 4: Atonement VI

Thioro stood in front of the courtroom entrance, looking at everyone with defiant expression. Nobody said anything, all they could do was look at the man they thought was dead – but he looked very much alive, if injured. Shaking Strips off his arm, the detective moved to his podium. There was something different about him other than his physical appearance. His gait was more determined; he didn't falter when he looked at everyone in the courtroom. When he got to his podium he cracked his knuckles, eyes blazing.

"Are we going to stay staring at me the whole day or what? We have work to do, guys"

"Thioro? Is that really you?" Dalia was close to him but she leaned to the opposite direction, as if afraid to touch him.

"Yes, it's me. It's a long story, but I assure you this is me and not someone impersonating me"

"That sounds like something a fake would say" Kamiya commented.

"I know, but what else do you expect me to say? You'll have to trust me on this one"

Trying to take control of the trial before it derailed into questioning Thioro for long, Azalea decided to ask the important questions. "How the hell did you pretend to be dead? We even got a Monobear file about your death!" Some of the Hostages looked at Monobear, demanding an explanation. The bear merely shrugged.

"Eh, anyone can make a mistake. So what? Bears are perfect but not _that_ perfect"

"Such a half-assed excuse" Matthew groaned, his lens examining Thioro carefully. "That's a bandage under your T-shirt...it seems to have some blood on it"

Thioro put a hand over where his wound was. "Yeah, that one hurt. Speaking of this wound, there's a few pieces of evidence I bring you guys. Since I was "dead" during the investigation I couldn't do much, but I hope this will be useful" the detective put his hand in his pocket and took out a small and thin object: a crossbow bolt.

"What's that?" Lucien asked.

"It's the arrow that hit me, it has the perfect size to be used on Sigrun's crossbow. There's no poison or anything like that on it"

 **Crossbow Bolt (update)**

 _The arrow that hit Thioro and supposedly had killed him. The tip and half of the shaft are covered in blood. Can only be used with Sigrun's violin crossbow_

"I guess that can be useful..." Kouma said "What else do you—did you bring?" _We all sure are taking rather flippantly that Thioro is back and alive_. Maybe everyone had realized the truth of what had happened would be revealed, and therefore trying to argue with Thioro wasn't necessary.

"I also brought these" Thioro put on his podium a bottle filled with some sort of chemical. "It's something I made for forensic purposes. It's a reagent to find out who may have bled what blood"

"Really? How does that work?" Vittoria asked. It did sound useful, as long as it was infallible.

"When you spray these on a blood sample, the blood will turn a different color depending of your blood type. It's not a perfect system, but it must be worth something here" he shrugged "I know it gave some interesting results when I tested it before those two found me"

Matthew seemed really interested in said results. "You really are doing detective stuff! I'm impressed!"

 **Blood Test**

 _A few reagents that will turn a blood sample into a concrete color, depending on the blood type._

Thioro looked around the floor, as if he expected to find something lying there. Whatever he was looking for clearly wasn't at his podium. The detective sighed and glared at the administrators, annoyed. "Okay, where is it?"

"Where's what?" Spots tilted her head. It'd have been adorable if it hadn't come from her.

"The camera! I had that videocamera with me, where is it now?"

"Damn it, I had hoped he wouldn't ask for it" Stripes' hands were empty, then in a second a large videocamera appeared in them. It didn't take long for the rest of the Hostages to recognize it. Kamiya's eyes widened noticeably behind his gasmask, he hadn't expected to see that object again.

"That's Runihura's camera!"

"Did you fix it?" Dalia asked to the detective. Thioro nodded, looking rather proud of himself.

"It wasn't too difficult. The only thing that couldn't be fixed was the small screen on the side" Thioro managed to connect the camera to the screen hanging from the ceiling, showing everyone a short video. "This here is the bloodprint in the inside of the cabinets" Thioro said in the video. A hand holding a small ball of cotton appeared on screen, it dabbed part of the print. The blood turned green, looking like pea soup. "Dark green" the detective said, as if everyone couldn't see it by themselves "The same color than Sigrun's blood" and indeed, just after that there was another short video proving it.

 **Blood Handprint in the Cabinet**

 _A handprint made with blood, located inside the cabinet. Testing showed it's Sigrun's blood_

"How do we know it's not anyone else's blood? It could be yours" Matthew wondered. As if he had expected that kind of question, Thioro showed part of the bandages covering his crossbow wound. There was a rather striking fuchsia circle there.

"My blood type is different to Sigrun's. As you can see, it'd show to be fuchsia. Going back to my findings! The drumstick also had traces of Sigrun's blood on it" and indeed, the blood was green, faintly smeared on the wood of the object. Kouma rubbed her chin, looking carefully at the image of the drumstick.

"That must be from when Azalea touched it" she said. Thioro nodded, remembering everything Azalea had told him.

"Most likely"

 **Broken Drumstick (update)**

 _A long, fragile drumstick. Presumably used to lock the doors of the new building. The blood on it belongs to Sigrun, presumably passed onto it when Azalea touched the drumstick_

"I also examined the bandages and the towel in the scene. The results were very interesting" the videocamera showed the mentioned objects. Just like with the handprint and the drumstick, the blood had turned colored. Nothing in there was like what Azalea expected _. What...?_ While everyone watched in disbelief, the camera moved to focus on the towel first. "The towel was soaked with blood, but it looks like there was more than one donor. As you can see, most of the blood is green, but if you look closely..." the camera zoomed in "...there are bits of blue mixed here"

"Why is there blue blood?" Kamiya asked.

"I think the killer wiped some of their blood before using the towel to absorb a lot of Sigrun's blood. That's what this looks like, yeah...

 **Towel (update)**

 _A white towel. It has absorbed a lot of blood, both from Sigrun and from an unknown person. The blood is already drying._

"So the killer is someone whose blood will shine blue when you pour those chemicals on it. Why don't we all use a drop or two of our blood to test it? We can narrow down the list of suspects to those whose blood will take a different color!"

It wasn't that bad of an idea, but it turned out not many were willing to do what Dalia had suggested. Thioro, on the other hand, had a different reason to disagree with the suggestion. "The blue blood is the most common type. It may not narrow it down as much as you hope"

"If you say so...what about the bandages?" Azalea wondered right when the camera showed it. Just like Thioro had done with everything else, the blood had been colored.

"The blood on the bandages is neither Sigrun's or mine. It's of the same person whose blood was wiped with the towel"

 **Gauze Bandages (update)**

 _Some bandages in the trash can. Some drops of blood belonging to a third person fell on them._

Thioro's contributions had been more than everyone had expected. There was also no trace of pride in the detective's face, he looked very grim, like this all had been no more than his duty instead of a reason to brag.

"Guys, sorry to butt in, but..." Dalia looked a tad uncomfortable at interrupting Thioro's evidence show, but she had to say it: "...if Thioro is alive, what are we trying to find out here?"

"Oh, right. We were discussing two cases" Vittoria said "Sir Meziane has just shown up alive. Therefore, the only case we have to discuss is Lady Solheim's death"

Lucien looked at Thioro. "We have thought one same killer did both cases. If you're here, you should be able to tell us who tried to kill you. Tell us"

"Oh, that's right! He was shot in his front side!" Kamiya exclaimed "He should have seen who's the killer!"

"So how about it, Thioro? Who is the perpetrator?"

Thioro closed his eyes, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, everyone. I don't know"

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Kamiya shouted.

"It's just like what I said: I don't know. I never saw the killer's face"

"The killer tried to kill you, face to face. How can't you have seen them?" Elaine sounded like she was losing her patience with Thioro. Something about it urged Azalea to intervene. _I don't think Thioro is lying. There must be an explanation as to why he didn't see who attacked him!_

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Monobear File #4**

* * *

"No wonder you don't know who attacked you – you got hit in the head from behind" Azalea said, reading the Monobear file. "That means we'll have to find another way to deduce who attacked you"

"Unless he already suspects of someone. He's a detective, he must have an idea already" Dalia examined Thioro's face. From the looks of his face, he did have a suspicion already. "Who is it, Thioro?"

"To be frank...I suspect Vittoria may be the person who attacked me"

Vittoria didn't seem that bothered about being suspected. "I see. I suppose that suspicion is based on proof and solid theorizing, is it not?"

"No. I have no definite proof yet, but I think it was you. The problem will be to prove it"

"But it doesn't matter, we're here to find out who killed Sigrun. Even if Vittoria is who assaulted Thioro, it won't matter to the bear" Kouma said.

"I know, but listen here: I have reasons to suspect the person who killed Sigrun and the person who attacked me are the same people. That's why..." he pointed dramatically straight at the criminal heiress "Vittoria Delacroix, I indict you for the murder of Sigrun Solheim!"

Nobody freaked out. Azalea merely swallowed, feeling as if her fears turned true. If Thioro accused Vittoria, that meant she was the killer? Everyone's heads turned towards Vittoria, who was extremely calm. She stared blankly at Thioro, and enunciated very clearly: "I beg your pardon?"

"You're the killer we're looking for. That's all"

"I...I see. In that case I suppose you have a reason to believe that?"

"It's my firm belief the person who attacked me is the killer, and from what I have heard from the admins over there, you're the main suspect for that – and it fits! The proof I heard from them there is all points at you!"

"Flawed proof leading to a flawed premise. If all you have to suspect me is what they have discussed, then you do not have anything at all"

"Then let's do something" Dalia interrupted. "Thioro must remember something from before he was attacked. Maybe if he talks about it, we can decide what was going on"

"That's not a bad idea, now that she mentions it" Azalea nodded, and looked at Thioro. "What do you say? Do you think you can remember enough to help us?"

"I'm not sure. I got hit on the head and my memories are woozy, but I'll try" It's not like he had another option, anyway. Either he recalled everything and supported his accusation towards Vittoria, or he let everything run its course and everyone dies if they don't vote for Vittoria.

If he was right, of course. Azalea bit her lower lip, hesitant, and prepared herself for what was going to come. Come on, Thioro, think as hard as you can!

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Blood Handprint in the Cabinet / Attempt to Frame Azalea / Injection Marks / Violin Crossbow / Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton_

* * *

THIORO: I remember going to investigate the building

THIORO: Azalea had said a few interesting things to me

THIORO: Given how there was blood, I couldn't let it rest

DALIA: Did you find anything?

THIORO: **I found no blood** back then

THIORO: I...I think...

THIORO: I stood **in front of the stage**

MATTHEW: How was the body like?

THIORO: The body wasn't there.

THIORO: I remember there was an object...

THIORO: A **violin**.

THIORO: And a **chair**

KAMIYA: Please continue

THIORO: ...I think that's when I was attacked

THIORO: I was about to **move to the stage**...

THIORO: ...and then I felt a searing pain on the back of my head

KOUMA: That didn't help much!

KOUMA: He doesn't remember anything useful!

LUCIEN: No, that was enough.

LUCIEN: Something's off about what he saw

LUCIEN: All you have to do is think about what he saw, and how things were found when we all got to the scene

* * *

What was different...there had to be some vital difference, but what was it? It took Azalea a while to realize what was the one thing that was off about Thioro's testimony. "...Thioro, are you sure that's what you saw?"

"No. My memory is hazy, I told you I don't remember things very well" he said. It didn't seem like he was lying.

"Right. It's just that it doesn't make much sense that you'd see the violin"

"Why? Sigrun supposedly was in that place, it makes sense it'd be there" Dalia wondered. Azalea nodded at that and cradled her face, unsure of where this was going to go.

"Yeah, that's right, but that's not what I mean. I just think he shouldn't have been able to see the _violin_ "

"I...I'm not sure where you're...uh..." Matthew wasn't the only one confused by how vague Azalea was being. Thioro looked at her, inexpressive, but waited her to continue.

 _How do I explain this_... "Thioro went to investigate after I told him all about the blood, so that means Sigrun must have been dead by then, yes? The problem is that he says he saw the violin. We know the crossbow in the violin was used because Thioro was hurt with an arrow.

The problem is that Sigrun is the only one who knows how to turn the violin into a crossbow"

"I'm not sure I follow" Thioro said.

"Think of it like this: if Sigrun was dead by the time you saw the violin, how were you shot later with it? I just said it, Sigrun is the only one who knows how to turn the violin into a crossbow!"

Vittoria slowly covered her mouth with a hand, surprised. "...oh. So that is what you mean"

"Indeed, that's what I mean! We found the crossbow, that means it was turned from violin to crossbow. Are you sure you saw the violin, Thioro? You have to think carefully about this!"

Thioro scratched his stubble, trying hard to remember. He grit his teeth, focusing on his memories. "I entered and I approached the stage...I saw the chair, and to the side was...there was..."

"Yes? What was there?" Elaine pressed. Thioro stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before finally snapping his fingers, having remembered a bit more.

"Wait, I'm wrong! I didn't see the violin at all!"

"Do you even remember what it was you saw?" Vittoria inquired, crossing her arms. Thioro nodded, refusing to look at her.

"It was the crossbow! When I went to investigate, the crossbow already existed!" _Yes! That's some progress!_

The emotion of finally managing to get some of Thioro's memories in order was short-lived, though. Kouma cleared her throat awkwardly, and tried to get their attention. "Okay, I guess that's nice, but—so what?"

"So what what?" Azalea asked.

"Does this change anything? Thioro saw the crossbow, yeah, but is it—does it change anything? Because I have no clue about this"

"Lady Nana is correct. What Sir Meziane saw does not change anything" Vittoria agreed, recovering from the earlier surprise. Not wanting to lose momentum, Azalea waved a hand, trying to diminish the importance of Kouma's objection.

"It is important! You'll see...once Thioro remembers more, that is" _I hope, at least_ "Thioro, what else do you remember? What did you do once you got to the stage?"

The detective grabbed his head, closing his eyes. "I examined something. I'm certain it wasn't the chair or the crossbow, but I was examining something there on the stage"

"Could it have been Sigrun's body?" Kamiya suggested.

"No, there was no corpse. It must have been something else..." _Something Thioro could have examined and is on the stage. If I had to guess, it'd be..._

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Floorstanding Loudspeaker**

* * *

"Could it have been the loudspeaker? It was there on the stage too"

"The loudspeaker?" Thioro closed his eyes, trying to picture himself examining that object"

"Yeah, I think that'd be the object. If you were checking that, it'd give time for the killer to knock you out"

"Then why'd he be checking the loudspeaker? It's not like it'd be out of place – that speaker is supposed to be on the stage anyway" Matthew said "Is there a reason to examine the loudspeaker?"

"If there was, I can't seem to remember. Although…I think…" Thioro put a finger against his forehead "Azalea is right. The speaker got my attention. I remember…I had gotten on the stage because there was something off with the speaker"

"Something off? What was it?" Azalea asked.

Thioro closed one eye and uttered one single word: "Blood"

"Blood?" Lucien repeated.

"Yes, blood. There was blood near the loudspeaker. Azalea had told me about blood on herself, but she never mentioned about blood near the loudspeaker. I thought it was strange, so I went to examine it"

"Why'd there be blood near the loudspeaker?" Elaine wondered "I have no doubt the speaker is involved in the murder somehow, but unless Sigrun died by getting hit with the speaker I can't fathom how the speaker was used in anything"

"If it helps, I remember touching the speaker. It sounded..." Thioro waved a hand "It sounded like it was hollow. I'm rather sure that's not normal"

"No, it can't be. There must be a reason why it was hollow" Lucien tried to think but no epiphany came to mind. Azalea, though, was able to think a possibility. It was a bit outlandish, but it could explain a very important fact about the murder.

"I think the loudspeaker was used to keep something out of sight" she said "What the killer wanted to keep hidden was..." She couldn't show what had once been inside the loudspeaker, but she did have something that could point what she meant.

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Monobear File #4**

* * *

"I think Sigrun's body was stashed inside the loudspeaker"

"...yeah, that could be it. Sigrun was bleeding, and she was rather small. She'd fit easily inside that thing"

"I never saw her body, but I think you're right. Her body must have been hidden inside that speaker, because it can't have been outside the building, and it was nowhere else" Thioro rubbed the back of his head, where he had been hit "I was so careless...but yes, the moment I tried to open the loudspeaker to look inside, I felt this sharp pain on the back of my head"

"That settles it, then. Sigrun died hours before she was found" Kamiya said, looking satisfied "What's next in our plan? Are we going to discuss if Vittoria is guilty or not?"

"I believe there is no need to discuss that – for obvious reasons" Vittoria primly said.

"...because you're guilty?" it didn't sound like Dalia meant to taunt her, it was more like a curious question, but Vittoria didn't seem to take it well. Her eye flashed with anger, she glared at Dalia with such a heated stare it could melt ice immediately.

"For your sake I hope that was not a serious question. It needs no discussion because I am not guilty!"

"That hasn't been proven yet" Lucien said.

"Are you sure—I dunno, I think there's something I'm confused about. If Thioro was knocked out then what did Azalea and Vittoria see?" Kouma wondered. She was right! Now that everyone thought about it, what they saw was impossible if they supposed Thioro was been knocked out before. _We found him dead—or unconscious, whatever..._ Then what had they seen?

"You guys think Thioro is lying?" Dalia asked, pressing her fingertips together.

"No...I am sure he was truly unconscious. We all saw him, we thought he was dead, even Monobear thought he was dead! He can not have been faking it" Vittoria asserted. _I'm not saying she is wrong, but why is she saying that?_ If she was the killer, it made more sense to try to argue he was merely pretending to be unconscious, didn't it?

"Any ideas, Thioro?" Judging by his frown, he had no idea at all. He rubbed his wrists, examining the marks on them. _Those marks...we haven't linked them at all with the murder, right? It had to be related to something, but how?_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Chair / Crossbow Bolt / Half-Opened Window / Marks on Wrists / Blood Test_

* * *

THIORO: I don't know how they saw me moving.

THIORO: What exactly did you see?

VITTORIA: All I saw was the body...

VITTORIA: Sigrun **sitting on the chair**.

LUCIEN: I recall Azalea's testimony

LUCIEN: She said she saw **Thioro standing there**

KOUMA: Did she notice anything strange about Thioro?

KAMIYA: If she had, she'd have mentioned it already.

LUCIEN: Afterwards Thioro slowly...

LUCIEN: ...raised the katana...

LUCIEN: And **the curtain fell** on the window

MATTHEW: The curtain?

THIORO: I did see a lot of closed curtains when I woke up.

DALIA: After the curtain closed...

DALIA: ...he must have **moved forwards**...

DALIA: ...to **stab Sigrun's corpse**.

LUCIEN: That's how it seems, at least.

* * *

 _Most of what I heard fits what I remember, but it's dangerous to make assumptions_. That was the mistake she had just heard. Given the layout of the building and what Vittoria and she were doing at the time, it was impossible that guess was correct. "Dalia, why do you think the body moved forward?"

"Because the katana was stuck into Sigrun, so he may have been the one to do that" she said. Azalea tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, mulling that. It was very unlikely Thioro had been the one to do that, but she was right. The katana was there on the corpse, so who had put it back? The killer? Most likely.

"Okay, you're right about that, but it can't have been Thioro. If he had moved forward, Vittoria would have seen him from the window she was watching through"

Elaine looked at her from over her glasses. "I thought you suspected her. Maybe she did see him and lied about that"

"Think about this: what'd be more convenient for her? To say Thioro had stabbed her and she saw it happen, or to not incriminate him at all?"

"...I guess you're right. Now that I think about it, you did see Thioro raise the katana, didn't you, Azalea?" once Azalea nodded, the writer bit the tip of her writing pen, unsure how to touch the topic, but they wouldn't get anywhere unless they did. "He just said he was unconscious. Are you sure you saw him move?"

"I'm completely sure. Thioro raised the katana and..." Elaine was right, that was unexplainable...for now. There had to be a way to solve that mystery. "We need to find out how Thioro was moving, and I doubt he was lying about being knocked out"

Elaine had opened her mouth to say something when a very loud noise attracted everyone's attention. When they looked, they saw Thioro at his podium, he had slammed his fist against his podium with all his strength. Once he made sure everyone was looking at him, he showed everyone the back of his wrist. There, faintly tracing his skin, were a few thin marks – the ones Azalea had noticed.

"That's no big mystery" he said "We're lucky the killer was so careless – she left this valuable clue"

"What's that? Did you have something tied around your wrist?" Dalia carefully grabbed Thioro's hand, examining the marks "It's very thin. Maybe it was piano wire?"

"No, not piano wire. It was string" _String?_ It made sense, but how did some string make Thioro lift the sword and make him look like he killed Sigrun hours after it actually happened?

"How did it happen, Thioro?"

Thioro traced with a finger the marks on his wrist. "Let's do this step by step. I have these marks on my wrists, and I had some around my waist" he stepped off the podium. There were no marks on him anymore – they most likely were on his suit jacket, which he had left behind. "If you follow the logic, it'll take you to the truth.

Is there anything else that has marks similar to the ones in my wrist?"

"Do you mean made with string?" Matthew tried to confirm.

"Yes, that's what I mean. I found nothing, but I have suspicions about what happened" _Marks like the ones on him...yes, now that I think about it, there were objects with marks!_

"I did see something like that" Azalea announced:

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Hat Stand**

* * *

"There was a thick hat stand in the storage, in the back of the building. Not only it shouldn't have been there, it also had deep grooves in it as thick as string"

"I don't think Thioro's hands were tied around that hat stand, Azalea" Elaine said, sounding like she was trying to think a way for that to be possible.

"No, it wasn't his hands, it was his waist. I think that hat stand..."

* * *

 _Kept Thioro standing up_

 _Fixed Thioro's posture_

 _Was what hit Thioro in the head_

 _Is where the killer hid_

* * *

 ** _Kept Thioro standing up_**

* * *

"What if the reason why I saw Thioro on his feet is because the hat stand was holding him in place? If he was tied to it, it'd keep him standing up, even if he was unconscious"

"I guess that makes _some_ sense, but I don't see how a mere hat stand could have done that"

"It was a very thick and stable stand, perfect for this! And it also has marks, I have no doubts it was involved somehow"

"Preposterous! That hat stand does not explain everything!" Vittoria tried to argue, Azalea immediately focused on her, not backing down not even an inch. Even though she didn't want to accuse her friend, the more Vittoria behaved so rudely and pressured everyone in the trial, the less reticent Azalea was about accusing her. "I concede maybe it kept him standing up, but remember you said you saw Thioro raise the katana. How can a hat stand explain that?"

"Was he holding something else other than the katana, Azalea?"

"No. He didn't need to be holding anything to be able to raise the katana, though. All you have to do is consider the one other object that had marks from the strings"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton**

* * *

"If you looked up from where we found Thioro you'd have seen the lighting baton that holds the spotlight. That's the key to that mystery"

"Did the baton have any marks?"

"It did! Therefore it's obvious the marks on Thioro and the ones on the baton are connected. If you keep in mind the baton was directly above where we found Thioro – where I saw Thioro – then you may have a very strange idea that may be true"

Nobody was sure what Azalea meant by that. One minute later, Kamiya inhaled sharply, he had thought of something. "Azalea, you have to be kidding. You're not saying..."

"Yes"

"But that's so stupid! How can that be?!" Apparently Matthew had the same idea. Azalea nodded, glad there was proof that'd support it:

"That's exactly what happened. The reason why I saw Thioro raise the katana in his hands is because his hands and the baton were tied together with string at that moment.

When the baton moved up, so did his hands!"

Lucien looked like he had swallowed something very sour. "That's insane! Thioro was manipulated like some sort of puppet while he was unconscious? Seriously?"

"He was kept standing up. That'd be the hardest part, to keep him on his feet while moving his arms up" Elaine said.

"It is ridiculous. Such a stupid theory does not deserve any consideration!" Vittoria was starting to raise her voice. A sign she was starting to feel nervous, perhaps?

"Why is it a stupid theory?" Kouma asked. Vittoria threw her hands in the air, waving them at Azalea.

"Because the culprit would need to have a lot of disdain for Lady Azalea's observational skills! Are you expecting me to believe the culprit set that up and thought Lady Azalea would stare at Sir Thioro's inert form, and would not notice something was off?" she sniffed "I do not know you guys, but I have more faith on Lady Azalea is eyes than that"

"...she's right. I don't think the killer thought that" Azalea mutedly said. Vittoria didn't seem happy to hear that – if Azalea was the one who was saying it, then she must have thought about it already "That's why the killer ensured I wouldn't be able to look for too long"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Curtain on the Window**

* * *

Azalea avoided looking at Vittoria when talking. "The killer set a curtain on top of the window I was at. When I tried to get Thioro's attention by hitting the glass, the curtain fell. I think the killer expected me to call for Thioro"

"What if you hadn't done that? The killer's plan would have been ruined!" Elaine said, but Lucien quickly gave a rebuttal to that.

"That's doubtful. I heard that curtain was placed in a way that'd make it very likely it'd fall down at the slightest provocation. If Azalea hadn't made it happen, the killer would have done it"

"That's unlikely" Dalia said. When they asked why she thought it wasn't likely the killer would have lowered the curtain by themselves, she pointed upwards. "Because if the killer was controlling the lighting baton above Thioro, they'd have to be at that catwalk above him"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Blood Handprint in the Cabinet / Broken Drumstick / Katana / Injection Marks / Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton_

* * *

DALIA: The killer was on the catwalk above Thioro

MATTHEW: Azalea saw him move...Dalia may be right.

KOUMA: Couldn't there be another possibility?

VITTORIA: It is impossible. What were you thinking happened?

VITTORIA: The baton was **_controlled from somewhere else_**?

VITTORIA: The curtain was **_lowered while the killer was on the catwalk_**?

VITTORIA: Both options are implausible

KAMIYA: Azalea **would have seen a killer from the window**

KAMIYA: So whatever happened was out of her sight.

* * *

"It's not nearly as complicated as you're making it sound. You have to remember one simple fact: the baton can be controlled remotely"

Thioro nodded. "That's correct. I once tested how far away you'd have to be to use the baton's remote control. It has some range, you could be somewhere else...as long as the signal can reach the baton, of course"

"Then the culprit must have been inside the building!" Vittoria shook her head, droplets of sweat raining around her. She was starting to look rather haggard. Azalea gave her a look of pity, but didn't retreat. It was time to deliver the final blows.

"That's wrong, Vittoria. The killer _could_ have used the remote control from another place...for example, from outside. Remember what Thioro said: what matters is that the signal reaches the baton. That can be solved easily"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Half-Opened Window**

* * *

"Even if the killer was outside the building, all they had to do is ensure there was a way for them to aim the remote control and make the waves reach the baton. That's why one of the windows was somewhat open – because they needed that space to reach inside and activate the baton!"

"Then the killer would need to be at a one single spot for that plan to work" hgerawh said. Azalea curled her fingers. It was time. She had absolutely no doubts now, as much as she hated to admit it.

"Indeed...only someone who was near that specific window when the baton moved can be the killer. That person...there's only one person it could be"

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Vittoria Delacroix**

* * *

"Vittoria, it's you. You murdered Sigrun, and you tried to murder Thioro later. I can't think of anyone else but you" Azalea said. The heiress stared at Azalea, relentless. What Azalea could see of her face that wasn't covered by her hair showed no reaction to the accusation.

"Why would she kill Sigrun?" Dalia wondered.

"Because of the motive – we didn't have any other reason to kill. She must have talked with the admins and gotten info. Something they said must have been important enough to kill for it"

"Really now?" Vittoria said, dismissive "Are not all of you already supposing Lady Azalea is correct about this…assumption?"

"That means you're denying killing Sigrun?"

"Of course I do. I also have a rebuttal for these arguments. Please heed to my words, as I believe they will shake this ill-conceived accusation" Vittoria straightened her tie. Even though she had been losing her cool more and more the further the trial went, she had managed to recover her composure enough to present her thoughts without being confrontational. Vittoria took a breath and started:

"Lady Azalea is making an assumption by thinking the killer was outside of the building. The lighting baton and the catwalk that leads to it are away from sight if you're watching through the windows, therefore it is a blind spot. A person could have been on the catwalk, moving the baton through the use of the console that is placed up there"

"There's nobody who could have been up there" Matthew immediately said, but Vittoria smiled a bit.

"If I recall correctly, you all have said there is one other person other than me who had the opportunity to kill. Am I correct, Sir Balboa?" Lucien didn't say anything, so Vittoria continued. "Regardless of the identity, Lady Azalea cannot prove someone was not up there, unless you _do_ have some proof right now, Lady Azalea…?

"…I don't" Azalea admitted. Vittoria looked pleased.

"I thought so. Therefore you cannot dismiss the possibility someone was there on the catwalk and you simply did not see them. Leaving that aside, there is also the matter of the weapon"

"The weapon?" Kouma asked.

"The arrows for the crossbow" Vittoria tapped her chin "If I recall correctly what we know, Lady Solheim kept the bolts underneath her cravat, did not she? For easy access, I suppose. However, the cravat is missing, or so I have heard"

"Oh...i-it's true the cravat is missing, but I don't see—"

"When did the cravat go missing? That is something you should wonder. After all, did not Sir Meziane almost get killed by one?"

Lucien scratched the bridge of his nose, unsure. "I'm not sure I understand..."

"The culprit must have access to the arrows after Lady Azalea, Lady Elaine and me went to look for everyone else. Then please ask yourselves this: where's the cravat right now?"

"Thrown somewhere in the resort?" Matthew suggested. Vittoria glanced at Monobear, who was still watching from his throne, listening attentively. Taking that as his cue, the bear seemed to smile pleasantly.

"Ah, you mean you think we have a killer who also litters! You bastards can kill each other for all I care, but I'm not going to stand aside while you pollute my precious, precious resort!"

"...I don't think I understand that either" Lucien mumbled.

"You don't? Your head is as empty as a starfish's" Monobear said. While Lucien seemingly took a lot of offense to that, Monobear clarified: "Nobody threw any trash or evidence anywhere in the resort. You're hearing it from me, so you know it's true"

Vittoria smiled, Azalea sensed she was very relieved to hear that. Had she been unsure Monobear would say anything? "Do you see now? The killer must have taken the cravat with them when they killed Lady Solheim, as when I saw her corpse I saw no cravat on her body. Nobody found the cravat when you investigated the scene. What happened to this piece of clothing and the arrows it concealed?"

"...maybe we really just didn't find it" Matthew said.

"Are you really going to suppose such thing and not make an effort to find out more?" Vittoria snapped her fingers "The culprit must either have hidden the cravat somewhere like their cottage, or still has it with them"

"I think I see what you want" Matthew's lens receded so far into its socket Azalea thought for a moment it'd hit the engineer's eye. "So we're going to check our pockets and see if anyone has the arrows"

"What for? If anyone has them, it'll be because Vittoria put it in their pocket!" Kouma said. Dalia pursed her lips, unsure.

"Not really? It's not like she could have broken into our cottages to put evidence into someone's pocket" Dalia said. "If anyone has that cravat thing then they should be a suspect"

"Let's just get done with this" Azalea sighed and put her hand in her pocket. She was convinced she'd find it there but, much to her surprise, there was nothing in there. There wasn't even a single fiber that could have indicated it had ever been there. _Wow. That's surprising..._

In fact, nobody in the trial room had anything like that. Their pockets, their clothing, their shoes, it was all examined yet nobody had the cravat nor the arrows. "Nothing. It's not anywhere in here" Azalea said and turned to look at Vittoria. Her face was obscured by her hair, but she noticed a slight scowl. _What does that mean? Could it be...she had expected it to be found?_

"...that is impossible. There should have been..." Vittoria muttered, sullen. _It really isn't my imagination; she had planned for it to appear!_ Then perhaps what Azalea should focus on is how Vittoria would have tried to ensure such thing.

"Well that was a waste of time. Now what? Where's the arrows?" Matthew passed a hand through his hair.

"They weren't at the scene, someone—someone must have taken them!" Kouma insisted, adamant.

"Do you mean to say there was an accomplice?" Kamiya questioned.

Azalea looked up. Maybe what was going on was that... "She's right. There was an accomplice"

"I agree. Let's think this through. I was attacked with a crossbow bolt, so obviously Vittoria had access to the arrows by that time. She can't have gone to hide it anywhere, but if she gave it to an accomplice that second person could have done it"

"I was the only other person without an alibi" Lucien pointed out, with an expression that clearly dared them to accuse him of being the accomplice.

"She could have given the evidence to her accomplice _during_ the investigation" Elaine added. Since there was no other time she could have given the cravat and arrows, that had to be the only time it could have happened! Right?

 _No, that doesn't make sense. Vittoria wanted the cravat to be found, I'm sure of that, so giving it to an accomplice so it was hidden wouldn't make any sense. In that case how could she have planned it to be found?_ Azalea bit her lower lip. She was sure she was right! And that's when she realized that maybe her instincts hadn't been wrong. "I think I understand what was Vittoria's plan"

"Does that mean you know who the accomplice is?"

"I guess...I guess you could say I do. The person who carried with them the crossbow arrows and the cravat was..."

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Azalea Stravopoulos**

* * *

"It was me. I must be Vittoria's accomplice"

"You mean by accident, right? Because I can't imagine you would help her willingly" Kamiya said, and Azalea actually had to think for a moment. She knew she had gone to see Monobear before midnight. She had received some information, and then...what had happened? She didn't remember anything. Could Sigrun have died closer to midnight? Had she helped Vittoria, formed some sort of plan with her, and forgotten all about it because she wasn't a culprit?

Were Vittoria and she accomplices, had they planned to blame Azalea by giving her the arrows and cravat? She didn't know, and she almost feared to find out. It wasn't like there was a way to know for sure, unfortunately, so instead she decided to trust herself.

She wanted to think she wouldn't help kill anyone. "Yes. I think the cravat was placed into my pocket"

"When did she have the time to plant evidence on you?" Matthew asked. She only had one chance to do it:

* * *

 _When she knocked Azalea out_

 _After she saw Azalea at the diner_

 _After the bodies were found_

 _After she committed the murder_

* * *

 **After she committed the murder**

* * *

"It can only have been after she killed Sigrun. That's the moment she could have put it in my pocket"

"Okay. So where is it? You didn't have it with you right now" Elaine said. Something in her eyes told Azalea Elaine didn't even consider that Azalea could be hiding it intentionally. The motivator unconsciously put her hand in the pocket of her cardigan, as if she had feared it'd suddenly be there.

"It's in my cabin. I changed my clothes after I got out of that building" she glanced at Vittoria after saying that, Vittoria looked like she had just won a prize. Azalea had inadvertently continued her plan, and she felt some dread and disgust at the thought of having fell in a trap the woman had set for her.

It was surprising to her how much disdain she was starting to feel towards Vittoria, now that she was certain her friend was the culprit.

Vittoria had been about to say something when Lucien piped up. "I understand, but I think we should think of why the killer would put the cravat in Azalea's pocket"

"To frame me, why else?"

"It doesn't make much sense. Think of it like this: if the killer was trying to hide the arrows, why didn't she take them out of the cravat? Why did she grab the entire thing?"

"...yeah, now that you mention it, it's a bit strange" Kamiya agreed. "This killer isn't the kind to do anything without a plan, there must have been a reason to need to take both the arrows and the cravat"

"You are overthinking—" Vittoria tried to dissuade them, but Lucien seemed intent in not letting her have a say in the matter:

"There could have been something about the cravat or the arrows that was a problem for the killer"

"A problem? Like what?" Vittoria finally managed to say.

"That's what we need to think about now..." Azalea replied, not having noticed who had just talked. If Lucien's theory was correct, then there was something inconvenient about those objects. The arrows were stored inside the cravat. I don't know for sure, but there must be something about that...

"The killer used the arrow to try to kill Thioro, so I think the killer may have taken the arrows and left only the cravat with Azalea" Matthew theorized.

"Then the culprit would have the arrows here in the courtroom" Vittoria said "Besides it would not make much sense to separate the arrows from the cravat if you were going to hide them together" ...eh...?

"We don't know they're currently together. If the killer took one or two arrows—" Elaine argued. _One or two arrows..._

"We would have noticed if a couple arrows were missing" Kamiya said. _We would...we would have noticed!_ Azalea's eyes widened right when Kamiya said what had just crossed her mind: "I bet the killer hid the cravat with the arrows because an arrow had been used already" That's it! Azalea's mind worked at full speed, she kept connecting dots. If an arrow was gone, then they'd have seen it in the cravat. By making it disappear in Azalea's pocket, nobody would see it.

"You mean the killer tried to kill someone with an arrow before Sigrun died?" Kouma tried to understand, not seeing the logic in that. _Vittoria tried to trap us by making me keep that thing hidden. I'm not going to let that stand!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Monobear File #4 / Missing Cravat / Attempt to Frame Azalea / Violin Crossbow / Floorstanding Loudspeaker_

DALIA: An arrow was used before Sigrun died

DALIA: There must have been another target

THIORO: Perhaps **Azalea**?

THIORO: She was **defenseless and unconscious**.

ELAINE: The killer took the crossbow...

ELAINE: ...and **fired an arrow**

KAMIYA: That's what she tried to do with Thioro!

KAMIYA: The odds she tried to do the same with Azalea...

KAMIYA: ...are more than zero!

VITTORIA: I beg your pardon, are you already blaming me?

* * *

"We have discussed this before, it's impossible for anyone except Sigrun to have used her crossbow" Azalea reminded them "The killer can't have shot an arrow, Sigrun is the only one who could do it"

"I also should remind you all you are assuming an arrow was used before the culprit attacked Sir Meziane" Vittoria said.

Could they prove in any way that one of the arrows had been used at an earlier time, back when Sigrun was killed? Many of the Hostages thought hard, but all they had was circumstantial. There was no definite proof at all, and no chance to obtain it – at least that's how it seemed. "I can't think of any way to solve this!" Dalia exclaimed "Azalea, do you have any ideas?"

"I don't know..." she admitted.

"Let's think of it like this" Kamiya wiped the lenses of his gas mask slowly and methodically, certain of what he was saying "If the killer got rid of the cravat then there must have been something about it they didn't want us to know, that much we can't be mistaken about"

"But we don't have proof, without proof we can't know for sure" Matthew said "We'd have found the arrow somewhere if Sigrun had used it!"

"I can also confirm there were no holes that could indicate a crossbow bolt hit anywhere inside that building" Thioro said.

"There's no other possibility other than an arrow being gone, so think! Where did the bolt go?" there was no answer for the pharmacist. Disappointed, he answered for them: "The killer took it with them, of course!"

"Why? I mean—why would she take the crossbow bolt Sigrun used?" Kouma wondered.

"I don't know; I'm just saying that's the only answer I can think of. Let's work with it, okay?" _Why would she take the crossbow bolt Sigrun used?_ Azalea was sure the enforcer had really fired a crossbow bolt, she agreed with Kamiya on that regard, but she didn't understand why Vittoria would want to take the arrow.

Had something been wrong with it? Would it have pointed at her? If she wanted to get rid of the crossbow bolt, why didn't she put it in Azalea's pocket too? No, there had to be something about the arrow that Vittoria couldn't let them find out about. Had it hit something Vittoria owned? Had it—

A sudden idea entered Azalea's mind. It was kind of crazy, but maybe, just maybe...Azalea looked at Vittoria, examining her carefully. She seemed to be okay. No injuries of any sort, nothing that indicated she had been hit by a crossbow bolt. But it made sense to her! If Vittoria had been hit by the arrow, she wouldn't want the others to find out. It'd be undeniable evidence!

"What if Sigrun actually did hit her attacker with an arrow?" Azalea proposed. Although her ideas during the last three trials had been mostly right, everyone was still skeptical about her theories. They all looked at each other, unsure how to approach this topic.

"Do you really think that's possible?" Thioro seemed to be the only one actually considering it.

"I'm not sure, but it could have happened. It'd explain why she felt the need to get rid of the crossbow arrows and cravat, and why we didn't find an arrow there on the crime scene. It'd have been stained with her blood"

"For the millionth time, Lady Azalea: you are making guesses" Vittoria insisted.

"I know! I just feel I'm right about this! There are reasons to think the killer may have gotten wounded, that's all!"

 **YOU'RE TURNING DELUSIONAL!**

Lucien didn't seem amused at all. He leaned forward, one of his eyebrows twitching. "You still suspect, Vittoria, right? Look at her! Does she seem wounded at all?"

"Just because we don't see a bleeding wound it doesn't mean it doesn't exist"

"It does mean that! You're shooting in the dark, and I can't stand aside anymore while you make blind guesses!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton / Gauze Bandages / Missing Cravat / Marks on Wrists / Injection Marks_

* * *

LUCIEN: I'm sure you already know...

LUCIEN: ...but if Vittoria were hurt at all...

LUCIEN: ...we would have noticed by now.

LUCIEN: She has no problems moving.

LUCIEN: There's no trace of blood anywhere on her.

LUCIEN: I know you're thinking hard, but...

LUCIEN: This is crossing a line, Azalea!

AZALEA: I know she doesn't seem hurt

AZALEA: But this is the only thing that makes sense.

LUCIEN: What makes sense?

LUCIEN: I don't even know why you think she's wounded

LUCIEN: Was there even any **proof the crossbow was used**?

LUCIEN: Or that **someone bled**...

LUCIEN: ...or that **someone was wounded**?

LUCIEN: Do you have even the slightest hint someone is hurt?!

LUCIEN: If you have something then say it now!

LUCIEN: Because this isn't making any sense at all!

* * *

"I know it doesn't make sense to think someone received a crossbow bolt anywhere and shrugged it off, but it seems that's what happened!" Azalea said, a bit defensive. Even if she knew it was kind of a silly argument, she thought it was correct "There's even proof someone may have gotten wounded"

"Just say it already!"

"When I investigated the trash can at the pharmacy, I found some gauze bandages with droplets of blood on them. Maybe it doesn't seem so suspicious to find them in the trash of a pharmacy, but I given what happened in that building—"

"Did anyone here use bandages recently?" Lucien immediately asked everyone else. Shyly, Thioro showed the spot where the crossbow bolt had hit him – which was expected, no way he'd leave an open wound untreated. Nobody else said they had used any bandages. "If any of you used bandages you have to say it now. This could be an important clue!" Lucien insisted.

"Look around, nobody used bandages. That trash is the real deal" Elaine said. Forced to acknowledge what Azalea had found may really be related to the crime, the marine biologist turned his head to Vittoria, examining her.

"She doesn't seem injured at all"

"I have nothing to hide" Vittoria said, pulling back the sleeves of her suit jacket "I will even let someone search me for bandages. If I were concealing any underneath my clothes, you would be able to feel it, would not you?"

"I can search her" Kouma offered. A bit uncomfortable, Vittoria stepped off her podium and approached Kouma, who proceeded to pat her carefully. Everyone watched in silence, waiting for Kouma to say anything, but Kouma's expression turned confused. Did she find something? "There's nothing on her" Kouma reported, puzzled "I don't get it, I thought—I thought they were right"

"I insist I have nothing to hide"

"She must have been hit by an arrow somewhere, I just know it! It must be somewhere under her clothes!" Thioro insisted, earning a glare from the suspect.

"I am not going to take my clothes off, Sir Meziane"

"That's not what I mean, it just doesn't make sense you're intact!"

"Lady Nana already proved I am not concealing any kind of bandages underneath my clothing, and there is no way I am going to show you any skin" she glares at him "You all have to admit it: I have no injury. Shall we move on?"

"N-No, we can't move on!" Azalea insisted.

"On the contrary, I believe we have every reason to move on" _This is impossible! Sigrun used a crossbow bolt, and I doubt she missed! Vittoria should be wounded, but there's nothing on her!_

The obvious answer was that her clothes concealed the injury, but unless Sigrun had hit her in really awkward places, that was impossible – Kouma had already checked. Perhaps she hadn't bandaged the wound? No, her clothing didn't have any blood. True, the black and red colors could hide bloodstains, but they couldn't hide the dampness and stickiness of blood. Again, Kouma had already checked her rather well. Had Sigrun missed? Unlikely, they'd have found a hole or a mark that showed where a bolt would have impacted. So many of them had checked the inside of that building! It was a possibility she couldn't discard, but it was unlikely. Had Sigrun not used a crossbow bolt at all? She really hoped that wasn't it, because it'd mean most of what they had against Vittoria right now would be discarded. Azalea was sure Vittoria was the killer, she couldn't allow this reasoning crumble into pieces!

No, Vittoria _had_ to have a wound. But where was it?

It took her a moment to realize there was one single place Kouma didn't check because it seemed impossible. Vittoria's hair cascaded around her body and covered the right side of her face. Could she... "Wait. Vittoria, can you move your hair aside?"

"Excuse you?" she seemed startled, even if her voice was as neutral as usual.

"Your hair, move it. I just want to see your entire face"

Vittoria's mouth opened and closed a couple times wordlessly, she was at a loss of words, until she finally croaked: "Why?"

"Just do it!"

"No, I am not doing it until you say—"

"Do you think the arrow hit her face?" Thioro rubbed the stubble on his chin, mulling that. "Well we're not going to get anywhere unless we discard that possibility"

"She'd be dead if she got—it's impossible Sigrun hit her face!" Kouma jumped to argue, earning a grateful glance from Vittoria.

"That is correct. I can not have been hit by an arrow, can I?"

"We'll know once you move your hair" Matthew calmly said "And if you don't, we can take a look by ourselves"

Dalia nodded. "Wouldn't be hard to make her move enough for anyone to look at her face"

"What do you say, Vittoria? Will you let us take a look or do we have to go and force you to move your face out of the way?" Azalea stepped away from her podium, to make clear she meant what she said. She had no confidence she'd be able to force Vittoria to reveal her face, but if she could make her think she could, then things should go well.

Vittoria scowled, growing. "Nnnggggh...you..you can not..."

"Why are you fighting this? Come on, show your face!" Lucien demanded.

A tense silence filled the courtroom, interrupted only by Vittoria's breathing. It quickened, getting shallower and more pronounced every second, it felt like she was about to explode. "You all are...you all have to be the most foolhardy people I ever met"

"Please, Vittoria...just show us. If you don't have anything—" Azalea tried to be conciliatory, thinking maybe they had gone a bit overboard, but Vittoria was in no mood to be forgiving.

"You! Shut up already!" she spat at Azalea "It's all your fault! Come the fuck on, what does a woman have to do for you to let go?!"

"V-Vittoria...?" that tone and anger she hadn't expected.

Undeterred, Vittoria grabbed the curtain of hair over half of her face, pulling from it. "Fine! If you wanna take a look at my face then go ahead, take a good look! Let this be seared into that empty noggin o' yours!"

And with a flourish, she threw her hair behind her ear. There, right under the right eye, there was a rather large white gauze pad, held against her face with flesh-colored first-aid tape. It was so large for a moment Azalea was surprised she had managed to hide it for so long. "Your face...!"

"Happy now? Will you crawl out o' my ass already?!"

Kamiya seemed to be wincing, like he was about to get away as fast as possible from Vittoria. "There's no need for this kind of behavior, Vittoria"

"You kiddin'? Clearly I have to! I have to cram every single word into your sawdust-filled skulls!"

"Vittoria, please calm down!"

The woman ignored Kamiya and focused onto Azalea, enraged. "You! What's wrong with you?! You think this was made with an arrow, huh? Ya think that?"

Azalea swallowed and held her stare, trying to look as undaunted as possible. "That's what I think. Do you mind taking it off?"

"Absolutely not! Ya want it to get infected? I'm not it off, and if anyone gets any closer..." she puts a hand into her pocket "I'll give you an impromptu tracheotomy, if you catch my drift!"

 _She's cornered!_ If she had bothered to drop the stuffy demeanor, that had to mean they were close to finally indicting her, but without the wound, they couldn't say with certainty it had been caused by a crossbow bolt. "How did she survive a crossbow bolt to the face?" Matthew wondered. Dalia touched the spot of her face where the bandage Vittoria had was located at.

"There's bone here, it's the cheekbone. The arrow must have hit there"

"It's amazing she's not in tremendous pain!" Kamiya commented, and leaned forward to take a good look at Vittoria. "...those eyes...Vittoria, _are you high right now_?"

"I'm not..." she touched her face "It was just a painkiller, that's all! Big deal! Doesn't even matter, this has n'thing to do with her death!"

"How did you make that wound? Looks pretty big to be a cut" Thioro asked.

"I fell onto a corner of my bed. Nasty business, horrible thing"

"Without looking at the wound directly, we can't tell for sure what caused it..." he reluctantly admitted "...we'll have to find a way to find proof without looking at it. Any ideas, Azalea?"

Azalea eyed the pocket Vittoria's hand was in. Did she really have a knife of some sort to stab them if they got closer? It was too risky to give it a try, she had to find an alternate way to catch Vittoria. "...I think there's another way"

"You kiddin'! I'd like to see you try! This is fuckin' pointless!"

"It won't be pointless; I promise" Azalea said. There had to be a way, but how?

 _I must give her the finishing blow, and quick! If I give her even a moment to recover the chance might get away!_


	32. Chapter 4: Atonement VII

They couldn't prove with certainty the wound on Vittoria's face came from a crossbow bolt, but luckily that wasn't the only way to prove she was the killer. While the wound would be absolute proof, they now had to look for other ways to prove this fact. _There are many possible paths I could take, but which one should I tackle first..._

"I dunno you guys, but the way she's behaving makes her 100% guilty" Kouma said "So everything she did before the trial is suspicious, right? That's—that could be our best bet to find something against her"

"Are you serious? Fine!" Vittoria spat "I got nothin' to hide, so go ahead!"

"Let's start from the top. Vittoria and Azalea were outside the building, right?"

"I was there too. It was only us three" Elaine corrected. "The killer used the remote control, only someone among us three can be the killer"

"Oh, certainly not!" Vittoria slammed a fist on her podium. "The killer must have been inside the building! If that's so, then there's one other person it could have been: Lucien! It must have been 'im!"

"So now that trying to blame Azalea didn't work, she's trying to pin it on me?" Lucien didn't seem worried at all, most likely because Vittoria's accusation was extraordinarily shaky. Vittoria nodded.

"You were inside the building, havin' placed the drumstick on the door handles. Of course this means you couldn't leave, with us three walking around. We had you trapped and we hadn't even noticed, you lowly cur!"

"...I'm not going to dignify that last part with an answer. Is that all your proof against me? Because that's nothing compared to the growing mountain that's against you" he looked around "If we're stuck then let's rewind a bit and think. For example, remember her testimony?"

"What about it?"

"I remember she said a few details that now seem...off. Let's start working from there"

"It sounds like you know what we're supposed to find" Kamiya commented. Lucien toyed with the string hanging from the hook on his shirt, dismissive.

"...not really. I have a suspicion, but there's only one person who can tell for sure if there's anything useful there" he looked at Azalea. "You're up"

"Ah...okay, I guess..." Azalea took a moment to recall what Vittoria had done and said back then, both during the time they were seeing Thioro and afterwards.

* * *

 _"There's something going on over here!" she said quickly before running back towards the left side, pointing at two specific windows. One was a bit open, barely enough for one to pass one's hand through, but the window lock was too far away. The other window was fully closed, but it didn't have a curtain. "What are you waiting for? Look inside!"_

 _Azalea placed her hands around her eyes and looked through the window. The inside of the music club area was dark, but she was able to distinguish a person inside: Thioro. What's he doing in there? Thioro had blocked the doors? "What is going on?" Vittoria asked._

 _"I'm not sure…Thioro's inside. He's just standing there—" right in that moment, he started slowly raising his hands to the side of him. There was something in his hands:_

 _A katana._

 _"He has a sword!" Azalea shouted. Elaine immediately ran towards the doors. Vittoria followed her, but before leaving, she said to Azalea:_

 _"What are you waiting for? Get his attention! Stop him from doing whatever he is doing!"_

 _"R-Right" what else could she do other than hit the window to try to get him to look that way?" Azalea hit the glass with both fists. "Thioro! Thioro, stop!" she had just hit it again when a curtain fell, covering the view. "I can't see him anymore!"_

 _Vittoria immediately went to the slightly opened window, peering inside. "I can not see him from this window. This is not good" Vittoria murmured and ran to where Elaine was trying to open the doors without much success._

 _Frustrated, Elaine kicked the doors, but nothing happened. "This isn't working! We're going to have to break a window"_

 _"We need a large and hard object to break the glass" Vittoria looked around. There were no usable rocks anywhere "Looks like we're going to have to leave the crime scene for now"_

 _"The crime scene? Do you think he's killing someone right now?" Azalea turned pale. Vittoria, staying calm despite the situation, nodded grimly._

 _"Yes. I can not think of many uses for a katana other than harming himself or someone else. This is not a good situation either way" she pushed the doors weakly "Let is look for something to break the windows. We also could gather some of the men to try force these doors open. Do not fool around, go with the first usable option"_

 _"We can't break a window. If we do that, we'd give Thioro a way out of here" Elaine said "Let's break the lock"_

 _Azalea interjected: "These doors don't have a lock. I think Thioro put a drumstick on the other side. With enough strength, we should be able to break it._

* * *

A sudden gasp got everyone's attention. When everybody turned to look at Azalea, they found her standing there behind her podium, eyes wide open and with her hands covering her mouth. _Lucien is right...this is what we're looking for! We can work from here!_

Kouma waved a hand, Azalea's eyes focused on it. "Azalea, are you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I think I'm okay...it's just that I'm starting to see what to do. Vittoria did so many mistakes, it's just a matter of knowing which one to start with!"

"Someone sure's cocky today" Vittoria murmured, looking at Azalea with disdain. "Fine, let's play your little game. What's wrong now?"

"Can you do me a favor? Remember everything you said. Can you repeat the stuff you said when we had seen Thioro raising the katana?"

Vittoria unconsciously touched the gauze over her wound, cringing. "Fine. I dunno what's wrong with you, but if that's what you want then I'll do it. Open your ears, everyone! I'm not gonna repeat this!" _Okay, this is going well. Now to slowly put pressure on Vittoria...until she has no choice but to admit her crime!_

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Blood Handprint in the Cabinet / Half-Opened Window / Marks on Wrists / Katana / Curtain on the Window_

* * *

VITTORIA: Here's what I remember I said:

VITTORIA: Get his attention! **Stop what he's doing**!

VITTORIA: **I can not see him from this window**

VITTORIA: We need **a large and heavy object**...

VITTORIA: ...to **break the glass**.

VITTORIA: We're going to have to leave the crime scene

VITTORIA: I can not think of many uses for **a katana**...

VITTORIA: ...other than **harming himself or others**.

VITTORIA: That's what I said. What, see anything important, asshole?

KAMIYA: I can see it indeed. Azalea, did you hear that?

KAMIYA: Something Vittoria **shouldn't have known**?

* * *

 _Something she shouldn't have known at that time..._ If another person besides her had noticed it, that meant it was likely she was right. More confident about what she had found out a moment ago, she nodded. "I did hear that. Vittoria, you mentioned Thioro had a katana, didn't you?"

"Yeah? What about that?!" Vittoria shouted and grasped the side of her face, moving her jaw that much made her wound sting.

"At the time you mentioned the katana, I hadn't said yet it was a katana. All I had said was that he had a _sword._ Tell me, how did you know that was a katana?"

"I...I...oooh..." Vittoria closed her eyes, frustrated. Azalea was right, she had slipped. Her lack of reply didn't go unnoticed by everyone else, they all started taking it as confirmation Vittoria was the killer – or at least as once another hint in that direction.

"Lucien, was that what you meant? Is she doing well?" Matthew whispered to him, who nodded. "Wow. Vittoria's pretty clumsy for a heiress of a criminal empire"

"I wouldn't say that; Vittoria has fought harder than any other killer. She truly is a hardened criminal" Lucien complimented "But only the killer could know that detail about the scene before the body could be found"

"Yes, that's a little too much detail" Kamiya agreed.

"So what is it, Vittoria? Are you going to confess something now?"

"I'm not...I am not going to confess...shit, this isn't right, I'm not..." Vittoria frantically tried to think of something to say, her voice was changing from the rougher one she was freaking out with, and her usual calm tone. It was like she was having a hard time even thinking of something to say, at a loss of how to control her behavior in the meantime.

"If you have a rebuttal then say it now. Otherwise—"

 **YOU WANT A REBUTTAL? HERE YOU GO!**

Vittoria had bared his teeth, looking absolutely furious. Tense, she pointed at Azalea, like she was going to scold her. "You think you got me beat? Eh?! Well I got some news for you, Azalea! I'm nowhere beat!"

"Does that mean you do have a rebuttal?"

"Damn right I do! I'm gonna shove your logic so far up your ass you're gonna taste your own shit!"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Broken Drumstick / Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton / Half-Opened Window / Missing Cravat / Injection Marks_

VITTORIA: Your problem's me saying he got a katana, right?

VITTORIA: By that logic if there was a way for me to know...

VITTORIA: ...then what I said would be fine.

VITTORIA: It's easy what I have to do, innit?

VITTORIA: This isn't gonna be trouble at all!

AZALEA: You're beating around the bush a bit too much

AZALEA: Are you sure you have something to say?

VITTORIA: Hell yeah! Pay attention!

VITTORIA: That wall had **two windows**.

VITTORIA: You took one, I took the other

VITTORIA: So obviously the reason I knew...

VITTORIA: ...was because I saw it **through that window**!

VITTORIA: I'm experienced with all kinds of weapons

VITTORIA: That means despite **the distance**...

VITTORIA: ...I was able to see it was a katana

VITTORIA: See? No contradiction at all!

* * *

In her hurry, Vittoria had ended digging a deeper hole for herself. Azalea smiled, almost pleased by how Vittoria inadvertently had made everything harder for herself, and spoke in a rather carefree manner. "Vittoria, I thought we had already defined you couldn't have seen anything from that window"

"We didn't—what? Beg your pardon?"

"You couldn't have seen anything from there. That window didn't let you see Thioro, all you could see was Sigrun's corpse. We talked about that already, remember?"

"We did...ah...I can't believe this! You gotta be kidding me!" Vittoria facepalmed, barely believing she had managed to put herself into more trouble. As soon as her palm hit the gauze, she screamed, in pain. _She's losing it._

"Even with a painkiller that wound must hurt a lot" Azalea tried to be more compassionate towards her "Come on, Vittoria...we don't have to keep going"

"I'm not...I'm not the damned killed. I insist I'm not"

"Does that seal it? Can we vote confidently now?" Matthew asked but not everyone seemed willing to make their votes right now. Despite everything Vittoria had said and done during the trial, there were a few murky points still to solve.

Kamiya was one of those who wanted to continue. "Let's keep going for a moment. There's something I'm wondering...so Vittoria escaped the building through the window, didn't she?"

"Azalea did say there was a ladder in there"

"That's the problem I'm seeing here. The ladder was inside the building, and Vittoria was outside. She can't have entered through the door with the ladder, we'd all have seen her" he leaned his head on his hand "She must have gone in through the window, but where did she put the ladder in the meanwhile?"

"Do you mean where she hid the ladder while Elaine and I were with her outside?" Azalea tried to clarify the question.

"Yes, precisely. It can't have been too far away from the building, or someone could have seen it, but if it had been nearby you or Elaine would have seen it. Where did the ladder go?"

"I don't remember seeing the ladder anyway, Azalea" Elaine said, thoughtful. "I don't think she disguised it as anything, and it must have been outside. Any ideas?"

Azalea twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, thinking what had happened back then. Vittoria had been outside with them, she hadn't moved anywhere without them, except... "If she put the ladder somewhere, then she'd have wanted to make sure we wouldn't stumble upon it"

"Yeah? Did I do anythin' like that? You can't say I did, can you?"

"...actually I think I can. You did make sure we wouldn't check a specific place. The place you hid the ladder was..."

* * *

 _The front of the building_

 _The left side of the building_

 _The back of the building_

 _The inside of the building_

* * *

 ** _The back of the building_**

* * *

"When we found out the building was locked, we separated to search a way in. Vittoria went to the back while Elaine and I checked the sides. It was a weak chance, but it was better than letting us choose the back and stumble upon the ladder she put back there"

"Are you sure? Do you have proof she hid it there?" Thioro asked, looking hopeful. Unfortunately for him and everyone else, she couldn't say she did.

"Sorry, I have nothing. I'm saying this based on what makes sense, I don't have proof other than that"

"Then it's not perfect!" Vittoria triumphantly said "Besides there's another problem! Pay attention, asshats!" she glared at them, boasting with a lot more cockiness than she should have at a time like that "Listen, you say I had the ladder in there. What you think I did with it afterwards?"

"You used it to enter the building through the window again, obviously. That's why the ladder was found inside" Elaine said, accusatory, but Vittoria waved a hand, not paying much attention to that argument.

"Yeah? That's stupid. The ladder may have been found inside, but that doesn't mean I put it there. Hell, why'd I go inside again? To get caught?" _She'll keep fighting to be bitter end. I'd think that's nice, if it didn't lead to all of us dying..._

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Crossbow Bolt / Marks on Wrists / Hat Stand / Violin Crossbow / Ladder_

* * *

VITTORIA: There was **no reason** to return inside.

THIORO: You could have gone inside to hide

VITTORIA: Absolutely not

VITTORIA: I could have hidden **anywhere else**

ELAINE: I think she'd have tried to **get an alibi**

ELAINE: Or **make herself seen** somewhere else.

VITTORIA: Exactly.

MATTHEW: But **nobody** saw you anywhere.

MATTHEW: That's **_the only place_** you could have been at

* * *

"I don't think you'd have gone into the building if you could avoid it" Azalea said, and before Vittoria could take that as a sign she was giving up on the chase, she added: "But you did return inside, because that's where we found the ladder"

"I just told you there was no reason to return inside!"

"No, there was a reason. In fact, you couldn't afford to not enter again"

"B-Bullshit!"

"If she had to go inside, then there must have been something she couldn't ignore" Dalia said "Maybe it's something about the weird plan she made?"

"Yes, it's about that. If we had gone inside the building and found signs of everything she did, then it'd all have been over for her because we wouldn't have thought for a second Thioro killed Sigrun" she glanced at the detective, who was pale and angry at Vittoria "The hat stand, for example. What do you think we'd have thought if we found Thioro tied to the hat stand?"

"Nobody would have thought he had done it – we'd just wonder why he was tied to that" Kouma confirmed.

"Exactly. The reason Vittoria had to return inside no matter what was to hide all traces of her plan. It's as simple as that!"

"And she didn't have enough time to escape the building, we must have arrived before she could get away" Kamiya added.

"Not having any other place to hide the ladder, she put it behind some weapons and hoped for the best...and none of us noticed! I can't believe this!" Elaine completed the reasoning.

"I...don't think something fits here" Dalia said "Where was she hiding? It's not like there were lots of places for her to be, right?"

Matthew nodded. "She can't have been in the back or we'd have seen her come out at some point"

"It's also undeniable she was investigating alongside us. Wherever she hid must have been out of sight, but also allowed her to arrive without arising suspicion" Thioro said "Let's suppose she's stealthy. Where could she have hidden?" _A place out of sight yet close to the rest of us..._

* * *

 _On the lighting catwalk_

 _Behind the pharmacy counter_

 _Among the weapons in the armory_

 _In the back room_

* * *

 ** _On the lighting catwalk_**

* * *

"There aren't that many places she could have been at – I'm sure the right one was the lighting catwalk, right above Thioro" Azalea raised a hand over her podium, and while she spoke she moved her hand to illustrate her point "The stairs go by the wall, and they end a few feet away from where Thioro was. If she descended there…

...it'd have seemed as if she had arrived from the entrance of the building, like the rest of us!"

"Indeed, that seems like the only possibility. It'd have been vital for her to seem like she had just arrived, otherwise we'd all have been suspicious of her" Thioro agreed.

"But is there—do you have proof, Azalea?" Kouma asked, just to be sure. Azalea thought for a moment, looked at Vittoria, who was gritting her teeth and staring at her with fury, and nodded.

"I think there is" she said.

"Bullshit!" Vittoria spat hoarsely.

"No, it's not bullshit. We found something that shows you went up there"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton**

* * *

"We all agreed Thioro's unconscious body was moved because of strings tied to his arms, right? And since Vittoria was outside, then she was using the remote control"

"That'd mean she should have the control right now" Kamiya said, but before he could suggest Vittoria to show what she had in her pockets, Azalea hurried to add:

"You'd think that, but we already found the remote control. It was up there on the console – Vittoria must have gone up there at some point to leave it, and the only time she could have done that, was after we saw what she wanted us to see, and before we found the body.

The control being there is proof she was on that catwalk!"

"I can't tolerate this!" Vittoria shouted, sounding desperate "Come on, you can't believe this crap! I'm...I'm me! I'm your leader, I have been watching over all your sorry asses all this time! You can't kill me!"

"You're not doing yourself any favors with that kind of speech, Vittoria" Elaine replied coldly. Vittoria stared at her before slumping over, losing all of her manic energy for a moment. She stayed there, breathing heavily and holding onto her podium as if it was her lifesaver in a furious sea.

"This can't be happening...this really can't be happening..."

"Do you admit killing Sigrun?" Azalea asked. Vittoria shook her head, her long hair splayed all around her.

"I'm not admittin' anythin'"

"You heard her. She's going to be stubborn to the very end" Lucien said, putting his hands behind his head and stretching. "Shall we vote?"

"In a moment. Let's make sure we have everything in order, just in case" Nobody would want to make a mistake, after all. Azalea took a deep breath and started the retelling of the case, according to what she knew.

* * *

 **Climax Inference**

* * *

 _This carefully planned crime started last night. The culprit may have planned many of the details of the plan already, but there was something she needed and couldn't prepare beforehand: a scapegoat, and the unfortunate person who was chosen to fulfill this role...was me. Maybe it was because I was conveniently out of my cabin last night, or maybe she planned it all along. What matters is that she encountered me and knocked me out._

 _To make me the scapegoat, she took me to the place she'd commit her crime at: the new building, the glitched one that had three different sections at once. The culprit placed my unconscious form inside the cabinet of the pharmacy area. It's even possible she ensured I'd stay unconscious for a long time through the use of drugs from the pharmacy. The end result...was that I still was there when she and her victim arrived._

 _The victim was Sigrun Solheim. I don't know how she convinced her to meet them at the building, but she did, they met at the stage of the music club area, making sure to have closed the building with a drumstick, just in case. I also don't know what happened during their encounter, but it went south at some point. The culprit had a katana, taken from the armory part, and got ready to kill Sigrun, but before she could do it, Sigrun attacked back with her crossbow, firing an arrow and hitting the culprit in the face. This effort didn't stop the killer, she skewered Sigrun right through the gut._

 _She couldn't leave the body there, for her plan to work. To hide the body, the culprit used an object that nobody would look at twice: the large speaker on the stage. After breaking it and opening the front of the speaker, the culprit put the body inside, and closed the speaker. Nobody would find the body there. To complete the concealment, she also used a towel to clean her wound and the blood from the stage. She also smeared my hands with blood and put Sigrun's cravat in my pocket, intending for me to be caught with incriminating proof on me._

 _But her wound required attention too. Thanks to the pharmacy, the killer was able to apply a bandage on her wound, and left the building. To do that she used the ladder, reaching the window and descending on the other side. Her plan was finished, it's possible she planned to later bring some Hostages to the building and feign the discovery of the body. Her plan was unexpectedly ruined when I woke up ahead of time._

 _I panicked and slammed the cupboard open. I stumbled towards the entrance, horrified by the blood in my hands, and ran away. Unaware of what the killer had planted in my pocket, I ran to my cottage and changed clothes, getting rid of all the blood on me. Her plan to make me the culprit was ruined, and it derailed even more when I looked for Thioro to tell him what happened._

 _I had only managed to find him when the killer saw us talking. I can't imagine what went through her mind, but it was obvious this was dangerous. That's why she returned to the crime scene, and waited. Her suspicions may have been confirmed no longer afterwards: Thioro took seriously what I told him, and went to investigate._

 _He may have approached too much to the speaker where Sigrun's body was hidden, because the culprit took action: she hit him on the back of his head, and he fell unconscious. That must be why she had an idea: make it look like Thioro and Sigrun had killed each other. For that purpose, the culprit set up the scene carefully._

 _First she propped Sigrun's corpse onto a chair, and took the katana out of the wound. Then she used a hat stand to make Thioro's unconscious body stand up, and tied the katana to his hands with wire. The wire extended upwards, to the lighting baton overhead, and made sure it was all so well tied when the baton moved, the hands moved too. The ladder was placed against the wall to be used again, one of the windows was partially opened and the other had a curtain on top of the window, and the doors were locked with a drumstick. All that remained to do was meet with someone outside._

 _The ones 'lucky' enough to be witnesses to her manipulations...were Elaine and myself. We didn't suspect anything, first trying to open the doors, then looking through the windows. The culprit used the remote control of the lighting baton to move Thioro's arms upwards, making it look like he was raising the katana and ready to strike, and before I could see more details the curtain fell down, blocking my sight. The charade was over. The three of us decided to look for someone to help us break in, and we departed from the building, leaving the culprit free to continue her plan._

 _Using again the ladder she had hidden on the back of the building, she entered back through the highest window, and started concealing her plan. She stuck the katana back into Sigrun, hid the hat stand, and untied the wires that were around Thioro's wrists, deciding to shoot Thioro and kill him, to complete the illusion Sigrun had killed him. She took the violin crossbow, aimed at Thioro, and shot, hitting him on his chest._

 _Around that time we must have returned. Having run out of time, she moved upwards, to the catwalk, and reeled the wires up. When we entered none of us was the wiser. We all saw Thioro and Sigrun's bodies. Her trap was set._

 _Her plan may have worked if it hadn't been for unforeseen circumstances. If I hadn't woken up so early, or if she had actually killed Thioro and he hadn't delivered valuable testimony here during the trial...maybe her plan would have worked. But we threw a spanner into her works, and ruined it all. Now we know..._

 _...the only person who can be the culprit is you, Vittoria Delacroix, Super High School Level Criminal Heiress!_

* * *

Azalea didn't falter at any point during the summary. She drilled Vittoria with her stare at all times, and the woman avoided looking at her, always staring down at her gloved, curled fists on her podium. When Azalea finished, Vittoria seemed to slump over a bit _. Is she…giving up?_

"It all sounded correct to me. There's a lot against Vittoria, we can make a vote without fear" Elaine said venomously, clearly she held a big grudge against Vittoria now.

"Yes. Let's start the vote, Mono—"

"Not so fuckin' fast!"

Vittoria looked up, a fire in her eyes. Even though her hair was starting to fall all over her face, and the gauze over her cheekbone was stained with more blood than before, her eyes still showed she was willing to give one last fight. She stood up, gripping her podium so tightly they all heard the wood creak.

"Are you…do you have an objection?" Lucien asked.

"'course I do! In fact, I'm sure I found a big flaw in your accusation!"

"It'd have to be a really big to make us change our minds" Elaine said, not bothering to hide her exasperation.

"It's a damn big one. I assert I didn't shoot Thioro with that crossbow! And since only the killer had a motive to want to kill Thioro, that can't have been me!"

"Does that mean you're admitting you killed Sigrun?" Kouma tried to confirm, all she got was a contemptuous click of the tongue from Vittoria.

"I'm not admitting anythin'. Just listen!" Vittoria looked at them furiously "Azalea's saying I put the cravat with the arrows in her pocket, and that she took it with her when she left the crime scene, yeah? Is that correct?"

"That's what she said – what I understood"

"Then she took the cravat to her cabin, and it has been there since then, inside the cabin only Azalea can enter. You see where I'm goin'?"

"I don't really see—"

"You dunce!" Vittoria flipped her hair, triumphant "If Azalea took all the arrows with her, how could I have shot Thioro with an arrow?"

"Ah…" Lucien frowned "That _is_ a problem"

"She probably saved an arrow before she put them in Azalea's pocket" Dalia said.

"Azalea said I improvised and panicked when I saw Thioro investigating the stage. How can I have prepared an arrow beforehand?"

"Then what possible explanation is there? I have a bad feeling about this" Kouma murmured.

"The only person who could have taken the arrows at any point is Azalea, and I don't think she tried to kill Thioro. Still, this is a serious contradiction" Lucien said. "Any thoughts, Azalea?"

"I'm not sure" Azalea said "I'm trying to think of something, but this is a bit tough"

"I see! You have finally gotten into a dead end!" Vittoria laughed lightly, elated "About time, finally some headway into—Ah, ouch…" she grasped the side of her face, wincing "Damn it, the painkiller wore off…" _That wound…wait…_

"…on second thought I think I know how to solve this. I understand now!"

Vittoria's fingers curled over her gauze. "You can't be serious"

"I am completely serious. Vittoria, that arrow—"

"Shut up!" Vittoria demanded "You do not know what you speak! You are being…delusional!" her eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Vittoria…"

"Lotta nonsense, that's what this is! So please allow me to elucidate you, as I shall fight back your argument" although her tone never changed, her choice of words seemed to waver between her more aggressive stance and her usual stiff and cordial way of talking. _Whatever's going on doesn't matter. I'm ending this!_

* * *

 **Panic Talk Action**

* * *

VITTORIA: Shut up! Shut up already!

VITTORIA: Your assertions are incorrect

VITTORIA: You can't pinpoint that on me too!

VITTORIA: I believe I am on the right here

VITTORIA: You gotta be the killer!

VITTORIA: There is no other solution

VITTORIA: Stop! Stop!

VITTORIA: You have to yield

VITTORIA: I cannot listen to this anymore!

VITTORIA: This is unacceptable, Lady Azalea!

* * *

You had all the arrows. I couldn't have shot Thioro!

* * *

 **Sigrun's Used Crossbow Bolt**

* * *

"No, there's one single crossbow bolt I believe you could have gotten access to" Azalea pointed at the gauze "I'm talking about the arrow that made that wound on your face!"

"Ah, true" Thioro showed the crossbow bolt he had brought. "She could have used that bolt to injure me. In that case _this_ is the same arrow that hit her in the face"

"I told you this isn't an arrow wound! I fell onto the corner of my bed, back in my cottage" Vittoria insisted. Nobody paid attention to her.

"Yes, this way even if Azalea took the arrows with her, she could have tried to kill Thioro with that same bolt!" Dalia agreed "We can start the vote now!"

"You—You can't! That arrow has never been in contact with me, never! You gotta believe me!"

"You can't fight this" Azalea said "And we can prove that arrow is the one that wounded you, without needing to even take a look at your wound!"

"Impossible! You cannot-!"

"With this we can prove that crossbow bolt injured both you and Thioro!"

* * *

Monobear File #4

Azalea's Testimony

Katana

Violin Crossbow

Missing Cravat

Chair

Crossbow Bolt

Marks on Wrists

Injection Marks

Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Hat Stand

Gauze Bandages

Bloody Towel

Broken Drumstick

Remote-Controlled Lighting Baton

Curtain on the Window

Half-Opened Window

Ladder

Attempt to Frame Azalea

Blood Test

Blood Handprint in the Cabinet

* * *

 **Blood Test**

* * *

"Thioro showed us an experiment he made. Through the use of chemicals he got from the pharmacy, he was able to pinpoint there were many different blood types present at the crime scene. I wonder...what'll happen if he analyzes the arrow?"

"Ah…I…I don't think that's…" Vittoria stammered.

"I'm sure the results would show a mix of my blood and a third-party's blood – marked in blue" Thioro said "We knew someone had bled over the gauze and on the towel, since there was unidentified blood there. You're the only person who touched that gauze recently, and the proof is right on your face"

"If the result shows the same blue color, then that means there's some of your blood on that arrow, and how are you going to explain that?"

"The gauze and the towel have plausible deniability, the crossbow bolt doesn't"

Azalea crossed her arms, Vittoria cowered a bit under her stare. "So how are we going to do this? Shall we test the blood on the crossbow bolt? What do you say?"

"I…I don't…I do not…" Vittoria lightly caressed the gauze over her face, and she finally sighed. With a groan, her arm dropped to the side. "…I concede. I admit it: you win"

"Vittoria?" Dalia voiced.

"I admit defeat. I am the culprit who murdered Lady Solheim and tried to kill Sir Meziane. It was me" There was an uncomfortable pause, a heavy pause hanging in the air. For the fourth time, they had successfully accused someone of being the killer. It never stopped being something that required the utmost seriousness.

Lucien nodded, crossing his arms. "This should end the trial. Let's get the voting underway, finally"

"The voting? Alrighty! Let's do it" Monobear proclaimed "The moment you all were waiting for! Let's vote! What is the name of the culprit As usual, state who you are voting for!"

The results were more or less what Azalea expected: Vittoria was pinpointed as the killer. What she didn't expect was that Vittoria would vote for herself too. She had seemed so furious, so spiteful, she had expected her to vote for someone else. The woman was contrite, holding her hands together and bowing her head, her hair flowing behind her back.

"That's correct! You got this right, fourth time in a row. The culprit responsible for Sigrun Solheim's death…was Vittoria Delacroix!"

Kamiya shook his head. "I almost can't believe it was her…why would she kill? Why did she try to get us all killed?"

"Because of the motive, of course" Thioro said "She must have fallen into Monobear's trap"

"So you think she talked with him and found out the answer to her question?" Lucien wondered.

"But what can have been so important she'd be willing to kill us all to not forget it?" Azalea really wanted to know that. Vittoria had been her friend, someone she liked and relied on, to know she had tried to get away with murder and all of their executions …Azalea really wanted to know what could have led to that! She got off her podium and slowly walked towards Vittoria, pleading. "Please, Vittoria, why did you have to do this?"

Vittoria didn't reply. Only when Elaine growled, upset, she lifted her head up. "Forget it. She's just a coward more. I bet she was planning this all along, she must have planned this from the beginning!"

"Elaine..." Azalea said, softly.

"She got you and me to trust her, and she did it all so she could have a convenient scapegoat! That's what happened!"

"…if I said that is not true you would not believe me" Vittoria said, her composed behavior back, although her sadness didn't leave. Azalea had a hard time deciding if it was genuine or not.

"You're again in full control of yourself, eh?" Azalea said, somewhat coldly.

"I am. I have to face the consequences of my actions with the little dignity I have left, after…after my behavior during this last portion of this trial" she touched the dangling emblem from the collar of her shirt. "An intimidating façade is very effective at getting people to react, I have found"

"You haven't said yet why you wanted to kill us all" Kamiya said "What was so important?"

Vittoria's fingers caressed the emblem. "I asked Monobear for the truth"

"The truth of what?" Elaine asked, her curiosity strong despite her anger.

"The truth of the crime I was framed for" the heiress let go of the emblem and spoke, with clear diction, narrating the events that led to this moment:

"A few years ago, there was a murder in Kyoto. The victim was an informant for my uncle is organization, and he had been tasked with spying on a number of...interests we had. During a mission in Kyoto, he died shortly after meeting with me. I was arrested, having been framed for this murder. Before this had happened I had never been arrested – Diavolos Avante had quite the clever way of working. We worked in a way where it was clear we were involved, but there was never enough proof to make an indictment. This incident was the first time anyone had been arrested, and not only that, the one arrested was the second in charge, the niece of the founder of the organization. It was...humiliating.

I sought the services of a firm that specialized in criminals like me and my uncle, and on the date of my trial I made my appearance. Unfortunately for me, my lawyer got sick a few days before, so his sons were tasked with my defense. They were high school students, just like me, yet they took the case with a lot of dedication and...they won. They actually won" Vittoria smiled, looking up fondly "Before arriving here I still was in contact with my lawyer. We...we are good friends now; I would like to think. I wish I could tell him how much he means to me"

"I don't think this is the time for that" Kamiya said mutely.

"...you are right, it is not" she said "Even though I was cleared of the charge of murder, I was seen as a blemish in the organization's clean record. Nobody except my uncle cared about me having been framed, everyone kept saying I was an idiot who let herself be caught by the police. Back then I was younger, cowardly, and could not think clearly. I made the decision I felt was right at that time.

I ran away. I did not tell anyone, I just faked my death and ran. I spent years in a small village in France, isolated from the rest of the world. After a while I felt guilt over it, but I was afraid of what my uncle would say. I knew he would not rest, that he would send assets to look for me. I fooled them all, and lived there until just a few months ago. My lawyer was the one who contacted me, he said I should go to Japan to meet with him. When I arrived I..."

For a moment Vittoria seemed like she was about to sob. She recovered her composure, but her voice had gained a melancholic quality. "I found out my uncle was dead. During my absence the Main Board betrayed him, and the organization does not exist anymore. Actually, that is not correct, there is two people left: the person they named as the new leader, and I. Not that it matters, his first action was to disband the organization..."

"And now that Main Board are the ones we're looking for" Kouma said.

"Yes. They are the criminals we are hunting" Vittoria closed her eyes. "I went to see Monobear to find out the truth of what had happened. I wanted to know who had framed me, and why"

"Wait, don't tell me..." Thioro's eyes widened, he had realized where Vittoria was going with this.

"Yes. Sigrun Solheim was the person who framed me for murder in Kyoto years ago"

Azalea felt a pang of pity towards Vittoria. She could sympathize with her, but she couldn't condone having killed Sigrun. "That's why you killed her? Because she was the one who framed you?"

"Yes. The memories part was...it was not important. I wanted revenge"

"We would have died if you had gotten away with this!" Kamiya rightfully complained, upset "Why the hell did you have to try to get away with it?"

"...because I was scared" she said "I kept thinking over and over that Lady Solheim was responsible for everything bad that had happened all this time. If it had not been for her, I would not have run away. Diavolos Avante would not have fallen, and we would not be trapped here, hunting for the Main Board. It was all her fault. The problem was that I got carried away by my desire to see her dead. Only when I had killed her I realized you all would have to die if it meant I would continue alive...

...and I did not want to die. It is selfish, I know, but in the end I put more value to my own life than to all of your lives"

"That's disgusting – really disgusting" Kouma said, grossed out by Vittoria's confession. Even if she hadn't sounded callous or like she was proud of her decision, she still made the choice of trying to get all of them killed. Kouma wasn't the only one thinking that, though. Azalea had those same thoughts, and unlike everyone else who agreed with Kouma, Azalea wouldn't stay silent. The disgust bubbled inside her, she just wanted to tell Vittoria what was what.

"You said you were cowardly back then. You know what? I don't think you have _stopped_ being a coward. You're every bit as much of a coward as you were back then"

"...Lady Azalea..." Vittoria winced, as if genuinely hurt by that.

"Look at yourself, look at everything you did! You almost killed us all! You tried to kill Thioro, you—you tried to frame me for this murder! You went through all this to kill the person who framed you, and then you go and do the same to me!"

"I know, I am sorry—"

"Shut up! Vittoria, I _trusted_ you! I thought we were friends! I thought I could rely on you! I didn't think you would...do any of this, ever!" Azalea covered her face with her hands for a second, trying to calm down enough to stop shouting "You thought we'd let this go? Look around yourself! You betrayed every single one of us, and now you're going to pay the price"

"Lady Azalea, wait a sec-!"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Azalea screamed, not noticing everyone was slowly starting to approach Vittoria "We're going to execute you. We already voted for you, you're as good as dead! It's as if we're killing you! We may as well grab you right now and tear you apart!"

Only then she noticed all the Hostages except Vittoria had gotten quite close to Vittoria. As soon as Azalea finished that sentence, everyone extended their arms, as if trying to grab part of the heiress to actually tear her apart. Lucien grabbed her hair and started pulling, Matthew took her leg and seemed ready to start twisting it off of its socket. Vittoria screamed, scared and in pain. Others pinched and tried to grab handfuls of Vittoria's skin. Azalea stared for a couple seconds, taken aback, and shrieked: "What are you all doing! Stop!"

As if reluctant to listen to her, the Hostages let go of Vittoria, she shakily stood up. A hand was covering the spot where the gauze had once been, it seemed someone had torn it off. She looked at Azalea with fear.

"What's wrong with all of you?!" Azalea demanded to know. It had all escalated in a second and she didn't even know why. Dalia rubbed her arm, frowning.

"I dunno. I felt inspired"

"Inspired?! I didn't mean we should kill her right now! We voted for her, and-"

"Not to say you're wrong, but I felt the same Dalia did, like it was something we had to do. You sounded rather convincing somehow" Lucien said.

"I wasn't even trying to convince any of you, you can't blame me for your behavior" Azalea was going to add something more, trying to understand what exactly led to everyone to follow her on something so destructive and violent, when the administrators stepped forward, stopping the argument. They approached Vittoria, who was staring at Azalea in shock.

"Okay, that's enough" Stripes said, approaching with the usual handcuffs for the culprit. Meanwhile Spots got Vittoria to turn around so her face wasn't seen by any other Hostage, and put the gauze back on Vittoria's cheekbone. "Let us do our job. If you had killed her you'd all have been executed"

"Why did we even attack her?" Thioro looked at the tiles of the floor "...could it be..." he glanced at Azalea, suspicion in his face. "...Azalea, mind if we talk later?" Not sure why he had looked at her as if she had intentionally made people go attack Vittoria, she nodded.

Now that the situation was in order, the administrators took charge. Stripes slammed the handcuffs closed around Vittoria's wrists, she hissed with pain. "Suspect secured!" Stripes notified to Monobear, who had watched all the recent developments without saying a word. When he spoke, he sounded slightly absent.

"Yeah, yeah, I saw it. So...let's do it..." he raised a paw "We have a very special punishment for Vittoria Delacroix, SHSL Criminal Heiress. Are you all ready? No! Well too bad, because it's punishment time!" without further warning, a chain caught Vittoria's neck and pulled from her through a trapdoor on the floor, and the screen near the ceiling turned on.

It was punishment time.

-ooooo-

 **Crumbling Empire**

 _When the screen turned on, everyone saw Vittoria. She was sitting on what seemed to be a throne made of marble. She was staring towards the front, calm and composed. The handcuffs around her wrists opened, she folded her hands over her lap, trying to ignore the noose that was tied around her neck. When the camera panned back, they noticed what the throne was on:_

 _A tower of people – mannequins of a grayish blue color, their backs spray-painted with the organization's emblem. They were holding onto each other, and the ones on top hung onto the legs of the throne. Despite being several meters tall, the pile was surprisingly stable. The rope of the noose hung from the ceiling, and was so long most of it hanged loosely against the side of the pile of people._

 _One of them started moving. The mannequin wiggled and slowly left the pile, tumbling down the rest onto the floor, the throne on top buckling and tilting to a side. Vittoria held onto the armrests, eyes tightly closed._

 _After the first mannequin left the pile, more and more followed. The throne was closer and closer to the ground, the rope of the noose got tauter progressively, it was just short enough to strangle Vittoria if the throne reached the floor. The throne seemed to be about to tumble down every time a mannequin left, Vittoria opened her eyes and held onto the throne for dear life, trying to keep herself from falling and having an immediate death by hanging._

 _Only when the noose started to pull from her neck she stood up. Vittoria stood on the seat of the throne, barely keeping her balance, and climbed onto the tip of the back of the throne. She stood on the tip of her foot, trying to keep her head as high as possible. The throne fell on its four legs on the floor, Vittoria was precariously standing on the back, but she was alive. The noose was taut enough to make it hard to breathe. With one gasp, she closed her eyes and fell unconscious, her feet slipping from the back of the throne._

 _There wasn't a struggle. Vittoria fell and was pulled by the noose, the very tip of her shoes brushing against the floor. The grim image stayed on the screen for a few moments longer before the device turned off._

-ooooo-

The moment it was over Azalea felt like she was the one with a noose on her neck. Despite what Vittoria had done, Azalea couldn't throw away the feelings of friendship she had felt towards her. She balled her fists and pressed them against her face, a whimper escaping from her throat. "Damn it...damn it..." she muttered, trying to hold back her tears.

"I can't believe this" Thioro seemed distraught too, watching the empty screen with grim expression. To his side, Dalia looked around, making mental inventory of everyone present.

"There are only half of us left. The killing has to stop now, right?"

"Most likely not"

"I don't mean to be crass, but having a leader may help ignore the temptation of bloodshed" Lucien turned around to not look at the screen. Even though he sounded unaffected by the execution, he had a tic above his eyebrow. "We have to replace Vittoria"

"There aren't that many good candidates here other than Azalea" Kamiya said.

"Then let's let Azalea be the leader. We're clearly willing to follow her even if she wants something as nasty as what we..." Matthew didn't finish the sentence. It was bad enough he brought back everyone's impromptu attack on Vittoria, he didn't need to be explicit. "What do you think, Azalea?"

Azalea had ignored them until they addressed her directly. Feeling the taste of bile, she faced them, upset. "Can you shut up?! I'm not replacing anyone! Just leave me alone!" and then, thinking she may have been a tad too hysterical, she added, struggling to keep her voice even: "I...I don't think I can. I don't want to be anyone's leader. Don't ask me to lead you all"

Kamiya bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Azalea, I didn't consider your feelings. I suppose we'll be okay without a leader"

"Think about it, of everyone here, you're the best choice" Matthew agreed once again "No pressure, but the sooner you take the mantle the better, okay?"

"Leave her alone, Matthew" Kouma whispered, pushing him away from Azalea. Slowly and one by one, some of the Hostages left the courtroom, until there were four people left. Matthew and Thioro had stopped by the door, waiting for the girls who were still inside the courtroom.

Both Elaine and Azalea had been close friends with Vittoria, and watching the execution was painful. Even through her own pain, Azalea could see how hurt Elaine felt, just by the way she was pale and how her fingernails were tearing through the fabric of her sweater. _...I lost Vittoria, but at least Elaine is still here._ Now that Vittoria was dead, Azalea wanted to cherish more the one close friend she had left. "Let's go, Elaine..." she invited and gave ten, twelve steps towards the doors before noticing Elaine wasn't following. Not having expected that, she turned around. "Elaine?"

"...please don't talk to me" she said immediately.

"E-Elaine?"

The writer clutched the sleeves of her sweater, refusing to look at her. "I don't want anything to do with you or anyone else" she said. There was silence for a few seconds more, then she added: "I...I really trusted her"

"Do you mean Vittoria?"

"Yes, Vittoria! I trusted her! I-I thought we could trust each other, us three, but look at what she did. She used you. She...she gained our trust and tried to frame you for murder!" Azalea had no reply to that. Stepping back to slowly approach Matthew, Elaine kept going: "I don't know if I can trust you to not do the same...I don't want to think you would, but I can't...I can't be sure you won't.

I'm scared, Azalea. I don't think I can trust you or anyone. Not after this. The only person I can trust is my brother"

That hurt way more than Azalea expected. Vittoria and Elaine were both her dear friends, and now she was losing both. Vittoria had just been executed after trying to make her look guilty for murder and kill everyone, and Elaine refused to trust her again. What had she done wrong? Had she even done something wrong?

Elaine walked to Matthew without looking back, and the two of them left the courtroom, leaving Azalea and Thioro behind. Stunned by Elaine's rejection, Azalea sighed, pressing a palm against her face. What was she going to do now?

"Let's go, Azalea" Thioro said. There was a pause while Azalea considered it, then she decided to follow him, if only because he had said he wanted to talk to her later. The detective politely walked alongside her, in silence until they got on the train. "I'm sorry you and Elaine had such a fallout"

"I didn't think she'd close herself like that" Azalea said quietly.

"Don't think it's over. Give her some time to recover, and your friendship will continue"

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course. I'm not the kind of man that says empty platitudes. You'll see"

He sounded rather sincere. Touched, Azalea smiled weakly, sitting on an empty seat and lying her head tiredly against the head rest. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. I'm glad you're okay, Thioro"

"I'm glad too. You were superb back then. Without you, I don't think they'd have ever caught Vittoria"

"You're giving yourself too little credit. Your testimony did half of the work, and the blood test was the final nail on—" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. That was too morbid, especially when talking about someone she liked. Azalea let her chin fall into her hands "You helped a lot too. Without your blood test, there wouldn't have been any definitive proof"

Thioro beamed with pride, and made sure his tie was set straight. "It was nothing special, I just had to do something"

"Well that something...huh?" Azalea squinted, suddenly noticing something "Thioro, can you show me your hand?"

"Which one?"

"Your right hand"

A bit confused, Thioro extended his hand. Azalea grabbed it and pretended to examine the fingers, looking at every inch of skin. After a minute or so, she dropped the hand. "What? What's wrong?"

"Don't worry, it was just my imagination"

Thioro clutched his hand gingerly, unsure if he should believe her. Azalea smiled calmly and looked out of the window. She had seen something. It hadn't just been his imagination.

The detective's wrist was unharmed. The injection mark, the allergy, it was all gone as if it had never been there. If that was gone, did he still have the crossbow injury? Why was he wearing the bandage?

...he had been dead before, Azalea was sure Thioro was dead when they found him, yet here was now, alive and unharmed. There was no room for mistake.

Azalea narrowed her eyes. "What the hell's going on...?" No use in thinking about it for long, it felt like she wouldn't get an answer. Feeling rather tired, she looked at the clock on the wall of the train station when she got down.

2:30 PM


	33. Intermission III

**_A few hours earlier_**

Mitsuhiko and Akane tried to look less tired than they felt while they rushed down the hallway, towards the infirmary. Toyotomi had run into the pod room, looking terrified. "You two, you have to come to the infirmary!"

Yamaguchi looked up from the panel that controlled Monobear. "Only them? That means something bad happened?" Ever since they joined the Future Foundation, Yamaguchi felt she had been coddled. True, the mutual killing game in the bunker had hit her really hard, and she was still dealing with the anxiety and problems that arose from such game. She still froze every time she saw a gun, images flashing in her mind of Matsukaze aiming at them to kill them at the end of the final trial back then. That didn't mean she wanted to be coddled like she was going to fall apart at the first sign of trouble!

"It's just a moment" Toyotomi averted his eyes. Akane and Mitsuhiko looked at each other for a second, and followed Toyotomi out of the pod room, all the way to the infirmary.

The infirmary was a large room, with a dozen beds, prepared for long-term stays in case someone fell ill of was injured during the stay in the island – or, in this case, if someone was comatose after dying in a virtual world simulation. They were ill-prepared to hold anyone in a comatose state, but they had to.

When the three entered into the Infirmary, they immediately saw the blood. Blood was leaking down from the bed and onto the floor, forming puddles that covered the tiles and expanded continuously. And on the bed laid Runihura Acurio, still dressed with the clothing he had when he was kidnapped and brought to the island, with his neck cut open from side to side. It had happened rather recently, by the look of the fresh blood.

"What...?" Akane stared at the blood on the floor, unmoving. Mitsuhiko's hand went to the gun on his hip while he turned to Toyotomi.

"What happened here?"

"I dunno! I had come here with Hikasa to check the vents for the saboteur when I entered and found this" he moved a hand over the bed. "There hadn't been much blood before I arrived, so I think it must have happened no more than ten minutes before I got here"

"Ten minutes?" Akane looked up "Mitsuhiko-kun and I were at the pod room with Yamaguchi"

"Really? You didn't leave that room at all?"

"Well..."

"We three did, and at different times" Mitsuhiko admitted. "So we don't have a good alibi"

"It was just for a few minutes each"

Their movements had led to none of them having an alibi, and by the sounds of Toyotomi's statement, neither him nor Hikasa had alibies either. Speaking of Hikasa... "Where's Hikasa-san?" Mitsuhiko asked. Toyotomi snorted, going towards Runihura's corpse and looking around for any clues.

"He's checking on our guests. He should come back anytime now—"

As if that was his cue, Hikasa arrived, staying out in the hallway to not look at the gruesome scene in the infirmary. "Everyone's okay, Masa. I talked to them and they don't know what's going on"

"You got their alibis?" Toyotomi inquired.

"I did. They don't know what's going on, but I got where they were. All of them have alibies"

Mitsuhiko's hand gripped the butt of his gun tighter. "So none of them could do this. That means the only person who could do it is the saboteur" he looked at Akane from the corner of his eye. Just like he had expected, nobody had told Akane her mother was the one under suspicion of being the saboteur. She was still in the dark as to who it could be.

Hikasa, though, wasn't as convinced. "Really? The saboteur?"

"Yeah, who else? If it's not them, then are you saying it was one of us?" One of the five remaining people, all of them survivors of a killing game, was the person who slit Runihura's neck? Akane sure hoped that wasn't true.

"The knife was from the kitchen" Toyotomi informed, peeking under the bed "It doesn't seem like there's anything weird about it"

"So, no clues at all?"

"None"

Without clues, without even a single lead, and with only a vague hope the saboteur that was roaming around the building as the potential culprit, they couldn't investigate and do anything about this. Akane tried to ignore the stench of blood and exited the infirmary, pressing her palms against her forehead. She had to calm down and think, what should they do...?

"We have no other option" she finally said to the others when they reunited with her.

"What's the plan?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"We can't wait. The fresher the clues are, the easier it will be to investigate"

"We can't leave the pod room alone! We have to watch over the simulation!" Mitsuhiko reminded her very categorically. Even though he didn't have as much empathy towards the sixteen people in the simulation as the rest of the group, he didn't want the project to stop. They had to find everyone who was a member of the Main Board. Akane nodded, feeling the same he did.

"I know. Hikasa-san and Toyotomi-san need to keep watching over our guests, and Mika-san and Hikari-san need to help me continue the project. The thing is, we also can't let this death unattended. Someone has to investigate"

"Who?"

"We need a detective _right now_ "


	34. Chapter 5: Prelude I

Thioro and Azalea walked down the cobblestone paths to the cottages, until they reached where everyone had gathered. Without a leader, without someone to help them decide what to do, they all looked tired and aimless, even though it'd still be many hours before sunset. Elaine and Matthew were standing to a side, refusing to interact with the rest. Kamiya, free from the person who had been watching him to make sure he didn't do anything devious, was mingling with Lucien and Dalia, who seemed to want nothing more than a good nap. Kouma was pacing around, biting her lower lip and clenching and unclenching her fists. It seemed like nobody was sure why they were all gathered or what they should do now.

"So we're all here now" Dalia said once Thioro and Azalea reached them. "Now what?"

"Azalea didn't want to be the leader. Everyone may as well do whatever they want" Lucien said, touching the tips of his hair.

"And then what? Wait for the next victim?" Elaine said grimly, clearly upset about such proposal. Matthew nodded and got a bit closer to his sister.

"She's right. I don't like not doing anything"

"What can we do now?! We lost, okay? We have gone through four murder cases and we're no closer than before to finding who those criminals are!" Dalia shouted. "At this point I dunno if we can trust those who kidnapped us! Common sense says we shouldn't yet here we are—"

"Is that so?" Kouma turned around, glaring at her. "Have you done nothing at all—like, for real?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kouma grabbed the pendant around her neck, moving up and down the clasp that held it closed. "I can't be the only one who thought of going to ask Monobear something about the mysteries of this simulation..."

"We were bound to forget whatever we asked, anyway" Matthew said. Kouma looked up.

"Not if we wrote it"

Lucien raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised. "I wonder..." slowly, as if unsure if he wanted to find out or not, he stuck his hand into his pocket. His eyes widened before a small smile of relief spread on his lips. He didn't take out what he had, but he seemed rather happy. "How didn't I realize I had this?"

"Since we all forgot, we may have written something and we don't remember now. This is what we'll do" Kouma had decided to take control of the situation. Even though the two past leaders had been killed – executed, in fact – she decided someone needed to lead the rest towards some result. "Let's take a moment to go check our cottages and see if we got a way to keep the answers of what we asked"

"Then we're going to reunite?" Azalea asked.

"Yeah, I think that's what we will do. There may be useful info we should share with each other" Kouma looked around. "The diner would be good, we gotta eat something too"

"How about we go there in half an hour? It should give enough time to check our cottages and do whatever we want before going there" Thioro proposed. His suggestion was met with approval, so it was settled: in half an hour everyone would gather at the diner. Kouma clapped, raising her voice:

"We have reached an agreement! Let's have some closing words and call this impromptu meeting over! Azalea?"

"What, me?" Azalea looked around, a bit self-conscious at finding herself at the center of attention. That had been a small part of the reasons why she didn't want to be the leader, yet she was under everyone's stare anyway. Why?

"You're the motivator. I bet you have—you'll think of something good" Kouma encouraged. Azalea helplessly sighed and yielded to the request. May as well get done with that.

"We're not in a good place right now, and that, um...that sucks. But we're not doomed yet. As long as we have breath in our lungs and blood in our veins nobody can defeat us! And...um..." the pressure was making her mind be blank. What was she supposed to say? Judging by everyone's languid looks, nobody was impressed. That didn't help her relax and think more. "...yeah."

Thioro leaned towards her, whispering in her ear. "Since you're doing this, leave aside the platitudes and call for action"

"Eh?"

"Just trust me on this" _Well it's not like I have anything else better to say._ Azalea tried to ignore the way she felt nervous about having everyone's eyes on her, and continued:

"We'll fight back. Look around. This virtual resort is like a jail cell, but we're not restricted. We have ways to look for information, so that's what we're going to do!" the words were coming more naturally to her, like it was a second nature "We won't go down quietly! All of you, you must destroy this simulation's chains! We're going to take the proverbial crowbar and take apart the mysteries that are trying to hold us down!"

The forceful approach was working much better. Everyone was alert, listening to every word, and seemed eager to start. Even Elaine, who had been away from the others, had joined back and listened intently. Azalea raised her voice more. "Check everything! Look for any clues you wrote and forgot. And in half an hour we'll meet back in the diner to discuss what we have, okay?

Let's find the bastards we're looking for and make sure they get their just desserts for causing everything we went through!"

Spirited murmurs of agreement erupted from the tiny crowd gathered around her, and everyone except Thioro separated to look for clues and go into their cottages to search anything they may have forgotten. Even though she wasn't the leader, they listened and were glad to have her. A bit surprised at how well that went, Azalea turned towards Thioro, who was staring at her intensely. "What?"

"...You know, I had been wondering something for a while already, and I think I finally understand"

"What do you understand?"

Thioro rocked on his heels, closing his eyes for a moment. "Let's get moving and I'll explain along the way. We have only half an hour to investigate"

Deciding to see where this would be going, she followed Thioro to his cottage. The detective opened the door and entered, going towards a desk that had a lot of mechanical and electronic pieces on it. Thioro sat in front of it, put Runihura's videocamera on the surface of the desk, and opened the cover. While he worked, he kept talking:

"I believe I finally know what's wrong with you"

"I didn't know there was anything wrong with me" Azalea said, a bit offended.

"It's not something wrong, it's just something that always seemed off" Thioro passed a pair of protective glasses to Azalea. "The kidnappers gave you the title of Super High School Level Motivator. Do you think it fits you?"

Azalea had to stop for a moment to think. Was it fitting? She didn't think so, it felt like every time she tried to motivate the group she failed. She felt she was put in the spotlight often, between solving the trials and everyone trying to get her to be the leader, yet she wasn't good at being motivational, despite her title. "Not really..."

"Why?"

"It's like I can't say the right words. I know what I should say, but I don't really know how to say it. That's why I also think I can't be a good leader, because I feel I'll screw up if I try that, even if I know what I should do"

Thioro nodded, sparks flying from what he was soldering inside the camera. "Sounds about right. I think the reason why you think that is because you were given the wrong title"

"The...the wrong title?"

"I can't say for sure, but I think you're more along the lines of the SHSL Instigator" Instigator? That sounded almost...anarchic. She wasn't sure she liked that associated with her. Not noticing her frown, Thioro kept talking: "You try to motivate and nothing happens, but when you appeal to everyone's more visceral natures and you incentivize them to _take action_ , they do it. You saw what we all almost did to Vittoria, it's like we were susceptible to your anger and frustration. See?"

Azalea frowned even more. "You have to be kidding...that doesn't sound good at all!"

"It's not a bad skill, it's just one that can be misused if the wrong person has it" Thioro looked up at her "That could be why the masterminds didn't give you the right word for your talent. It would have been a problem if you flipped out and started giving orders to everyone"

She was having a hard time imagining doing such thing. Demanding the Hostages to do what she wants, turning against each other? Hardly! Azalea stayed with Thioro until he finished fixing the videocamera, he lifted it in the air to take a last look. "It's finished"

"What did you do?"

"I made some modifications to the camera. More concretely, I added an infrared function to see in the dark" seeing her face of surprise, Thioro added: "I had to learn to do it back in the force, for a case. I'm not as good as, say, Matthew, but I know a few tricks. It also helps that this is a virtual world, there are less limitations than the real world"

"Why are you doing it? Do you expect to have to record in the dark?"

"That's right. I haven't ever been inside the bear's office, but since it has no windows and he's a machine that doesn't really need to see, I think there's a chance it'll be dark. With this camera we'll have a video of everything we find in there. We don't want to get caught with our pants down again" he shook his head "It was all fun and games until someone died. Now we have to fight with everything we have"

Azalea raised her eyebrows. "Yeah? I thought that was a given. Why the sudden change? Ever since you returned for the last trial you have been..." _how to word this?_ "...more competent"

"You wound me. I wasn't the Viper of Johannesburg for nothing" he sounded genuinely offended "Look, I just wasn't taking anything seriously before. Now I am. That's all" it didn't really explain anything. Deciding to humor him and just let him do whatever he wanted, she opened the door of his cottage, stepping to the porch.

"Alright, top detective. We looking for anything you already know exists, or are we going to root through Monobear's drawers until we find something useful?"

"I have something in mind, and I think I'd like you to come with me. I'd like to know if you do have plans first, though"

Azalea thought for a moment. There was something she wanted to check in her cabin. According to the revelations of last trial, she had gone to ask Monobear a question. If she had received something, or taken notes, they should be in her other cardigan, the one with all the blood Vittoria had splattered on her. If there was nothing in her pocket, she'd be disappointed, but she just had to check. Azalea told Thioro her plan. "...just in case, you know? I'd like to believe I would have kept some sort of evidence about what Monobear told me"

"Is that so?" Thioro's face was a perfect poker face. The only sign of nervousness he had was his eyes moving to a side. "It's not a bad plan, but I think what you want to do and I want to do are not so different"

"You mean we can both do our thing at once?"

"Exactly. If Monobear told you something, then he must have notes or whatever. We don't have to take a detour; we can check for your answers while we're doing what I have in mind" The logic didn't sound completely off, but it was needlessly complicated, in her opinion. Why to risk wasting time when they could go for what had more chances of giving her what she wanted? Noticing Azalea wasn't convinced yet, the detective added: "We don't have much time, we only have like twenty minutes to do everything we can. We don't have much time for detours"

"My cabin is right there! It'll take just a minute"

"We have spent a minute arguing about this!"

"I'm not the one who stopped, Thioro"

"Don't try to make me look like the bad guy, I was just—"

"Hey, if you guys are done bickering in the middle of the road maybe we can get going?" Thioro and Azalea turned their heads, glaring at Matthew, who backed off, showing his hands. "I was just saying!"

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. I heard a thing or two about what you want to do, and I think it's a good idea. Let me join you" he pointed in direction of Monobear's office "You're planning to sneak in there, aren't you? Between the three of us, we should be able to do it"

"Do we even know how to break inside the office? It's not like there are windows we can use" Azalea said.

"We'll find out when we get there"

"That's not really that better of a plan but..." But it was better than nothing, she guessed. At least now they had a plan that could give some useful information, something they needed with urgency. Her own plan may have been overruled, but if they hurried, maybe she would have time to go to her cottage afterwards to check her cardigan pocket. Thioro didn't seem happy about having to take Matthew along, though.

"Where's Kamiya?"

"I left him at the diner. Honestly, I'm getting tired of having to watch over him. I know he was Khotso's accomplice, but he hasn't tried anything remotely shady since then. I don't think we need to watch him anymore"

It wasn't a satisfying answer, but for Thioro it was enough. He made a face of resignation and shrugged. "Fine. You can come along"

"I'll be useful, you'll see!" Matthew says, as if Thioro's main concern was that Matthew would get in the way. Thioro opened his mouth to retort, shaked his head, and decided it wasn't worth it. With a huff he led the way towards Monobear's office, avoiding the other Hostages when they saw them around. It was kind of a risky plan, they didn't want more Hostages to join them and be a liability.

On the way, they all had time to think. Nobody said anything, they were all focused on what they had to do now, although other thoughts kept getting into Azalea's head. Ever since the third case, she had a constant feeling something was off about everything around her. If she hadn't known this was a virtual simulation she'd have suspected it was that, but since she knew, she couldn't decide if it was the uncanny feeling of being trapped in a mockery of the real world, or if there was something else bothering her.

 _It just feels like...like there's something very wrong about everything._

That was what bothered her the most, that she kept thinking that without knowing why. Had she been seeing something that made her realize something was off? Even though she tried to recall, she just couldn't.

All she could do was keep walking forward.


	35. Chapter 5: Prelude II

Azalea was pretty sure Monobear knew they were going to invade his office, so she expected him to appear anytime, laugh in their face, and throw them out, maybe adding a punishment because why not. When the building with the shape of the upper half of his head was on sight, she thought in any moment the large metal door would open and he'd step outside.

Nothing happened, not even when they all got right in front of the door. Azalea put a hand on the surface of the entrance. "Looks pretty solid to me. No handles or doorknobs"

"And no windows either" Matthew said. Thioro looked at the glass red eye that was high on the dome that formed the building.

"Let's look for another way in. I know there are no windows, but there could be something we missed"

Even though it was unlikely they'd find anything, they had no reason to refuse. The three circled around the building, examining every inch of the surface of the outer walls, looking around just in case their captor decided to surprise them. The smooth surface shone under the sun, illuminating all the screws and the places where the steel was assembled together. Azalea tried to stick her fingers in the junctures. All the steel plates were solidly welded together, none of the plates they examined hid an entrance or even a hole from where they could look inside. Thioro knocked on the wall, a hollow sound reverberating inside.

"Stop that! He's going to come here!" Azalea chided him while he had his ear pressed against the steel. Matthew, with his hands behind his back, didn't seem too worried. "Am I the only one who's worried Monobear will appear anytime?!"

"We're in his virtual world and he's following all our movements, I'd be surprised if he didn't know already we're here" he said.

"Then why hasn't he tried to stop us?"

"Dunno. He may have gotten cocky" Thioro moved a few feet away and knocked on the wall again. "He may think we'll never get inside or find anything"

"We won't if we don't get inside" Matthew hadn't tried to help Thioro at all. "Found anything?"

"No. This dome is like a fortress, it's flawless. The only way in is the big door, so..." he led the way "Nothing to do but try to get in here through there"

"He's not going to open the door for us. Do you think there's a key or a button?"

"If there's any then it must be inside" Azalea said. Thioro nodded.

"I agree it must be inside, but not because of that we will give up, will we? There must be something we can use, like..." the detective cheered up when he saw a small device on the side of the door. When they approached, Azalea recognized what it was: the intercom. She remembered having seen it back when nobody had died yet, Monobear had talked through it and told them to scram. Contacting him through the intercom would likely get that same result "We think Monobear opens from the inside, right?"

"Do you think it's done through the intercom?"

"No, that's not it, it's more like maybe there' something we're not seeing yet. Let's open up this device and see what we can find out" he turned his head to Matthew "Didn't think I'd be saying this, but I'm glad you're here. Bring any tools you have"

"Aye aye captain" Matthew saluted lazily and ran in direction to the cottages, leaving Azalea and Thioro to examine the intercom. Thioro examined every millimeter of the intercom, looking for clues or anything that could be useful for them, but he found nothing. Only when Matthew arrived again it seemed like they could do some progress.

Matthew put his toolbox on the grass, rubbing his hands in anticipation. "You want me to take this apart?"

"Very carefully. I don't think Monobear would appreciate us breaking his stuff"

"Hey, guys, look at this" Azalea had been touching the intercom, until her finger brushed against something in a seemingly empty part of the device. She felt a small hole there, even though her eyes showed there was nothing "There's something here"

"Really?"

"It's like a small opening" Azalea rubbed with her fingernail, flakes of gray plastic peeling from where she had been touching, until she revealed a round hole, just a millimeter wide. "It was covered up. Do you think it could be useful?"

"It's too small to put a finger or most tools inside" Matthew noted "Something like a needle could fit, but where are we going to find one?"

Thioro scratched other parts of the device, finding nothing. "That seems to be the only hole. Guess dismantling this really is the only thing to do. There could be something directly underneath the hole"

"Step aside, I'll deal with this" Matthew opened his toolbox, looking forward to breaking the device. With expertise and measured movements, Matthew popped out the plastic cover, moving it out of the intercom with care, not letting it fall down to the grass. The inner workings of the intercom were shown. The speaker, the wires inside, and other parts were in plain sight, the three huddled together to examine everything. "You were telling me to check the part where the hole was at, right?"

"That's right. Something there?" Azalea asked.

"There is. Look" Matthew pointed at a small round membrane "I don't know if you have opened a keyboard before, so I'll tell you there are many tiny things like these under every key. When you press a key, the plastic of the key presses on this and sends a signal to your computer"

"There was no button over this thing" Azalea said.

"No, but this exists. I think if we press it, something will happen" Matthew's lens extended, he looked at the edges of the membrane and how it was connected to everything else. "There's a couple cables coming out of it, and they go into the wall. I dunno if they connect to the door, but there's a chance they do"

"What else could they do?" Thioro asked.

"I dunno. It could also trigger an alarm, I guess, but we have no way to know" the engineer hovered a tiny screwdriver over the membrane, twirling it slightly. "All we can do is press it and hope for the best. What do you think?"

Thioro didn't seem eager to maybe put themselves at risk by pressing suspicious buttons, while Matthew was already ready to press it. Being the tiebreaker, Azalea took her decision quickly. "Press it"

"Are you sure?" the detective asked.

"It's the only hint of a way to get inside. We have to take the risk"

"Roger that" Matthew said without waiting for Thioro to give a rebuttal or an alternate idea. Quickly, he jabbed the membrane with the screwdriver. The membrane gave in easily. Nothing happened in the intercom. A sudden noise behind them made Azalea jump, she turned around expecting to see a horrible trap springing out, or Monobear ready to deliver a punishment, but it actually was the big door of the office opening. Cogs and noisy machinery made a cacophony that got rid of any pretense of being stealthy, until the door folded and disappeared into the void inside. Azalea let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in.

"That went well"

"That could have gone much worse. Let's be careful" Thioro said, frowning, and peered inside the office. "I can't see much...I'll go in first. The two of you follow after me only after I give you a sign I'm okay" since there was no reason to refuse, they agreed with Thioro's plan. Thioro walked inside, fading away from sight. Azalea held her hands, waiting and hoping for Thioro's indication. Behind her, Matthew packed his toolset and got it ready, just in case they'd need it again.

A minute passed before they heard Thioro from inside. "It's a hallway leading here! You should be okay, get in here" _Doesn't sound like there's anything bad inside. Antsy_ and ready to get running at the first sign of danger, Azalea entered slowly, waiting for her eyes to get used to the darkness. Their steps gave the hallway an ominous sensation, it was like there would be no way back if they kept going. That doesn't matter. _We have gotten far, we can't just back off now._

"This is a long hallway" Azalea commented, trying to defuse the tension. Matthew made a noncommittal noise. He was staring forward, without paying much attention to her. Azalea was taking the situation very seriously, yet she felt Matthew and Thioro were much more focused than her. It was good to have friends who were willing to do everything in their power to help, but it also was starting to make her a bit uneasy.

When they got to the end of the hallway, they entered the office. Although Azalea didn't remember ever being there before, it felt familiar. _If I talked to Monobear and got my question answered then he must have done that here..._ That would explain why it felt familiar. Thioro was waiting for them beside the large vault-like gate at the back of the office, behind the chair Monobear would sit at. Other than them, there was nobody else around, much to Azalea's relief. "I haven't gotten enough time to check this place for long. All I have seen so far is that" he pointed at the side of the gate, where there was another device. Not an intercom, it had a green screen and a small microphone in front of it.

"What's this?" Matthew asked.

"That's what you'll have to find out"

Azalea put a hand over the desk. "Meanwhile Thioro and I will check everything else. You dismantle that device, Matthew"

"Sure, no problem" Matthew opened his toolbox, ready to start working. Just like Azalea suggested, Thioro and she examined the desk, the chair, and the walls, looking for anything that could be useful. Thioro held the videocamera and turned on, recording all of their movements and the objects in the office. The only source of illumination was a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, Thioro had taken a good decision by modifying the videocamera to be able to record in such dim circumstances.

It took around ten minutes for Azalea and Thioro to get done with their investigation. It was fruitless. The desk had no secret compartments, the drawers were empty, and there weren't any objects. Whatever Monobear may have used to answer the Hostages' questions was now gone. No notes, no photographs, nothing. _I should have known he wouldn't be so careless._ Although there still was a chance all that was behind the gate Matthew was trying to open.

"Guess there's nothing here..." Thioro sounded disappointed, looking around. He did expect to find something, even if it was useless. "How's it going, Matthew?"

"I'm almost done! I think I can open the gate!" Matthew took out a strange tool, like a rod connected to a battery. In front of him the device was dismantled, the inner wirings exposed. "I'm going to use this custom tool of mine. It'll send an electric signal through the circuits"

"What was that thing, anyway?"

"A voice identification machine. I think it was made to activate with Monobear's voice, or maybe with the admins' voice. I dunno. We shouldn't give it a try, in case something bad happened if an unauthorized person tried" he slowly held the rod in front of the circuits "Step back" Inch by inch, millimeter by millimeter, he moved the rod forward until he touched one of the hair-thin circuits. Sparks flew from contact, Matthew removed the rod immediately and jumped back. The voice ID machine lighted up.

The three Hostages waited to see what happened. There could be a trap, Monobear could arrive, maybe tampering with this was against the rules. A sudden screech startled them, Azalea let out a yelp of surprise and almost bolted to hide underneath the desk. The gate they were trying to open slowly started raising up, embedding onto the ceiling, revealing an inky darkness behind, without even a single light illuminating that space. The three of them watched, soaking in the foreboding atmosphere.

"...well we have to keep going" Thioro said while Matthew packed his toolbox. Once the three were ready, they stepped into the darkness.

It was kind of weird to be in a pitch black room when somehow the few objects in it were perfectly visible. It was as if there was no darkness covering those objects at all, despite the absence of light. Azalea saw a vat that had a large drop symbol on front, and right beside it there was a safe, wide open. There was also a cardboard box on the desk. "Okay, what are we checking first?" Matthew asked them. Azalea pointed at the vat.

"That's unusual. Obviously it should be our first choice"

Thioro chuckled. "You would fall into so many traps, Azalea. You know what, let's do it"

With decisive steps, Azalea went to the vat and lifted the heavy cover, putting it against the wall, and peered into the vat. There was a lot of transparent liquid inside. Thioro carefully pushed them aside when they tried to take a better look. "Careful, it could be acidic"

"There are no warning labels anywhere" Matthew said, examining the outside of the vat. Thioro frowned, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.

"...nothing's burning, I suppose it's okay to take a better look"

"Want me to sample a bit?"

"No, you idiot!"

"There isn't even a name for whatever's in here. No color, no smell...it can't be just water, right?" Azalea had crouched to take a look by herself, finding nothing either "No way Monobear would lock a container of water in here"

"We should take a sample of this back to Kamiya" Matthew suggested. Thioro used this videocamera to have the vat and its contents on video. Despite the darkness, he was able to use the camera properly, a sharp image registering into the camera despite being tinted green.

"We didn't bring anything to take a sample. If I had known this would be here..." what was done was done, and going out to get something could be dangerous. He decided continuing their investigation was a better idea than risking being detained or caught while bringing something to keep a sample in. "There's a safe there" the detective suggested.

"Then whatever's inside must be important" Azalea took the initiative and opened the safe further. "Why do you think it's open? It doesn't seem like it was forced open"

"Who knows. We'll think about that later, for now tell us what's in there"

Azalea took out the contents of the safe. "It's a few documents, I think. Let's see..." once she found what seemed to be the first page, she read aloud: "The...The Lazarus Formula?"

"What's that?"

"I'm reading, give me a sec" Azalea quickly scanned the page, looking for the most important passages. "Looks like this is some kind of drug. Most of what it says here is so complicated I don't understand not even half of it"

"Search for anything about its appearance or its uses" Thioro suggested. It made sense to look for the most important qualities of the formula, she found the right page.

"Okay, this one is about its composition. There's diagrams, there's long and unpronounceable words, but it does say it's a colorless, flavorless, odorless compound"

"No doubt this container is filled with that" Thioro concluded, positioning the videocamera to record everything Azalea was reading.

"I'll try to say what I understand..." Azalea sat on the desk, paraphrasing what she found: "The Lazarus Formula is a chemical compound made to kill"

"This is poison?!" Matthew stepped away from the vat.

"The formula will reduce cerebral activity in a gradual manner to...to reduce the amount of stress on the brain before the moment of death?"

"As if that's going to be of any use to someone who's going to die" Thioro commented. _You're not wrong. Lousy consolation for someone who's about to die._

Azalea continued summarizing the page she was reading. "There will be no outward signs of this compound's effect on the human body. The only warning about the compound is its unfavorable reaction when in contact with human skin. It will cause a rash and reddening where the compound touched the skin. Other than that there are no contraindications..."

"If it was anyone other than Monobear I'd say that's a humane method to do executions" Thioro commented. _Yeah, those executions were completely inhumane_. Azalea checked another page.

"Oh, interesting. Hear this, guys:" she said "The Lazarus Formula is effective when injected into the bloodstream, causing death in five minutes"

"That fast?!" Matthew gasped.

"Until the moment of death the person injected with the compound will weaken quickly and die peacefully, losing unconsciousness seconds before their heart stops. If the poison is administered orally, death will be unavoidable, but its effects over the body are different. Due to the contact with gastric acids, it will cause severe sickness, including vomiting, headaches, and excessive sweating. The body will take longer to absorb the compound, and death will happen in...one hour!"

"Sounds like we'd notice if someone died because of the poison, then" Matthew said. "Why would Monobear have all this poison and never use it?"

"He may not have used it so far but that doesn't mean he won't use it in the future. This could be his way to execute us all if we accuse the wrong person in a trial."

"That'd be too humane for him. No, there must be another use for this compound" Thioro said.

"We can't take this anywhere or else the bear would know we were here. Did you record everything?"

"I did. Now there's the box here..." Thioro took the cardboard box, the bottom falling down. "Oh, wait, there are two boxes. This one is empty"

"Any labels that could tell us what was in there?" Matthew asked.

"Nothing. There's no dust or shapes. Can't say for sure what could have been here. What does the other box have?"

Azalea peered into the other box. There were a few of the same object – some sort of object that resembled an epipen. A glass container in each of them showed there was nothing inside. "I'm not sure what these are"

"Look at the tip, it's sharp. I think these were to be used to inject something" Thioro pointed out. _Oh, yeah!_ Azalea noticed he was right, it was rather sharp. _Wait a second..._

"What's up with the scary face, Azalea?"

Apparently the thoughts that crossed her mind made her face scrunch. She was sure she was right – hard to think otherwise since these objects existed. Still, should she say something right now? What did it mean? What would be the implications if she was correct?

It just was too dubious to bring up right now. "It's...it's nothing"

"Sure didn't seem like it was nothing" Matthew said slyly, and stepped away from the desk. "I don't think we're going to find anything else here. Let's get out before the bear comes back and finds us deep in his den"

"Without proof, it could be hard for the others to believe us. Let's take one of these objects with us" Thioro suggested, taking one out of the cardboard box. Azalea puts her hands on her hips.

"We can't take the documents with us, but we can take one of those things? Why?"

"The documents are one-of-a-kind; these things may be disposable. If we're lucky the bear will chalk one missing up to just losing one of them" despite the reassurances, Thioro didn't seem sure at all. It was unlikely the bear didn't know they were here, getting nosy and invading his office, he most likely already knew what they were taking. Matthew was right, though. They should leave. "What time is it?"

Matthew rolled up a bit of one of his suit's sleeves, checking his wristwatch. "2:56 PM. About time we go meet everyone else at the diner"

"Then let's get going" Thioro put a hand on Azalea's shoulder and gently lead her out of the black room. Matthew left a few seconds after them, closing the gates behind him. Monobear still was nowhere to be seen, not even when they left the building they felt like they were being observed. Were they really getting away with this?

"Guess we won't have time to go to my cottage" Azalea mumbled. Thioro, behind her, shrugged.

"I don't think anyone will care if you arrive a little late. There should be time for you to go get whatever you wanted to get"

He was right, now that she thought about it. Where was the harm in arriving a little later than intended? On the other hand...it's likely what she asked was kind of personal. Even if she got her answer and wrote it somewhere, did she want to reveal it to everyone? It's true it depended on how important it was, but...

...maybe it was for the better to not take the decision right now. She could do it after the meeting.

Azalea shook her head. "It's fine, I'll go there after the meeting. Let's go see what the others got"

"Fine with me" Thioro went ahead, without any hesitation, towards the entrance of the diner where a few of the Hostages were already gathered. Behind Azalea, Matthew followed, hands in his pockets.

For some reason there was a knot in Azalea's throat. She felt rather nervous, like she felt something horrible was going to happen. _There's no reason to think something will go wrong. I have to calm down._

Inside the diner, the clock showed the time.

3:00 PM


	36. Chapter 5: Prelude III

Despite the many deaths they had so far, everyone in the diner had the same feeling of determination and stalwart desire to find as much information as possible. Although Azalea hadn't been able to get what she wanted, she was happy everyone else seemed to have the same drive as her. The Hostages who were waiting for her were all eager to start talking, everyone was sitting on different tables. Kamiya was the only one nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Kamiya?" Dalia inquired, looking around, with her feet on a table. She was reading a few crumpled sheets of paper that seemed to have been crammed before deep into a pocket. To her side sat Lucien, drumming his fingers on that same table.

Matthew already was with Elaine; they were both on their own table. The engineer shrugged, flippant. "He must be wandering out there. Don't worry about him too much, he'll be back"

"We can't wait for much longer" Kouma said, bringing a cake to the counter. "We have to start as soon as possible, before the admins come and crash the party"

"What if the admins have him somewhere because he snooped too deep?" Lucien said, stopping his drumming. _Hardly possible._ If neither them nor Monobear intervened when they rooted through his office and its back room, then there was no way Kamiya received the brunt of any punishment for digging into the simulation and the kidnappers' secrets.

Unless somehow he managed to find something vital and much more important than what Azalea and her friends found. It was possible – to this point Azalea really didn't know how relevant and important that concoction and those documents they found were.

"Whatever. Let's get started" Thioro said. Just like Kouma had said, there was no time to wait for Kamiya to come. They had to get started as soon as possible. Everyone who had gone to ask Monobear questions took out what they got. Azalea couldn't avoid wondering if maybe everyone had gone to ask Monobear something, but only a few were selfless enough to ask about something unrelated to themselves. It was better than thinking only she and Vittoria had fallen for Monobear's motive.

Only three people brought something. Dalia's crumpled notes, a piece of paper Kouma got out of her necklace, and Lucien held a small recorder. First Dalia showed hers. She smoothed the note, showing it to the rest. Nobody was able to read her handwriting, it was rather messy and the creases on the paper didn't help.

"You wrote it in some kind of code, how clever" Matthew commented. To his side, Elaine shook her head, dismissive. _Guess she's still distrustful of us._

Dalia laughed sheepishly. "Yeah...a code...a-anyway! I thought we should know about our kidnappers and I got Monobear to tell me a bit about them. I dunno if I knew more and I just didn't write it, but here I have their names and titles"

Then she started reading those bits of information she got. Names that meant nothing to anyone – Akane Ogata, Mika Yamaguchi, Mitsuhiko Hikari, Masamune Toyotomi, Saburou Hikasa, Yukio Ohmoto – but the titles got their attention more. Azalea leaned her chin on her hands. "They're all SHSL?"

"Hope's Peak alumni. I guess that explains why we all got titles" Thioro said.

"It's a bit of a weird group, though. None of them sound like the kind of person that'd be involved in a kidnapping" Matthew said, and he was right. A chemist, a makeup effects artist, a weightlifter...none of them sounded like an evil kidnapper. Azalea wondered which one was the person controlling Monobear, and which ones controlled the administrators.

Kouma moved a few strands of hair out of her face. "That's...not very useful, is it? I mean—we know the names of who got us here, but we can't use that info to get out of this virtual world"

"We'll use those names to throw them in the slammer" Lucien said, setting up his recorder on the table. "I turned this on before I entered the office, I guess. There's a few minutes of nonsense at the start, just...don't pay much attention to that"

The "nonsense" was Monobear taunting Lucien. Laughing at him, telling him he knew what had happened to his real lighthouse, that even if Lucien tried he wouldn't be able to look through the simulation's secrets. Lucien's voice always sounded calm, just mildly annoyed as if what Monobear was saying was no more than a bother that didn't even deserve to be acknowledged. Out of the recording, though, Lucien had closed his eyes, he looked very tense. Even if he didn't want to let it show, Azalea saw he was rather upset.

When the time to ask a question arrived, the marine biologist put his hands on the table, tapping the edge of the recorder. "It's time"

 _"Did you come here just to get mocked?"_

 _"No. Answer me this: did you have anything to do with the murders?"_

There was a short pause. _"Aaaaah? Sorry, for a moment I thought you were insinuating I had a hand in the murders! My entire arm! Maybe even half of my body!"_

 _"Get real, you know very well what I mean"_

 _"Fine. If you're asking then I have no other option than to answer. Open your ears because I'm going to say it once: no! I didn't help with the murders or anything like that!"_

 _"You didn't force them to kill?"_

 _"Anything your stupid friends did was their choice"_

 _"What about the other admins?"_

It was hard to hear it, but there was a noise as if Monobear had growled. _"Really? Are you that convinced they didn't kill because they wanted?"_

 _"I just think there's something off about all this"_

 _"There's nothing off about it! You're overthinking it, so now scram!"_

The recording ended there. Thioro clicked his tongue, shaking his head with disdain. "That stupid bear...it's pretty obvious he was involved"

"He must have coerced the killers to do what he wanted!" Matthew agreed. Most of the Hostages were willing to agree and think the same, but Lucien disagreed.

"I think he was telling the truth. He didn't force them or anything – everything the killers did was because they did want to kill"

"Why do you think that?" Azalea inquired.

"Because Monobear couldn't lie. He had to answer our questions with the truth, and he even told Dalia their names. Monobear wasn't trying to hide anything"

"Just because he told the truth about one thing doesn't mean he'd tell the truth about anything" Elaine said, looking down at her hands crossed on her lap. _She's not wrong._ It was a bit naïve of Lucien to think Monobear was being honest. It was good information to have, anyway.

Kouma was the next person. She put her locket on the table and took out a small note. There were only a few words. "Sorry, guys, looks like I wrote only a bit. I hope it's enough"

"Who knows, maybe it can be useful" without waiting for Kouma to give permission, Dalia took the note and read it. She narrowed her eyes, confused. "Wait, what?"

"What does it say?" Lucien tried to get her to say already, but Dalia didn't read, she was stunned. All she did was murmur 'what are we here for...?' Impatient, Kouma took the note off Dalia's hands, smoothed it, and read aloud:

 _"We knew you lot wouldn't be able to find them. That was just our excuse to keep you all in this simulation"_

The implications of those few words were self-explanatory, but Thioro tried to delve deeper. "Any idea what's the context?"

"Come on, Thioro, it's pretty obvious. 'Them' is the criminals, and we were never supposed to find them" Elaine said bitterly.

"More like they think we wouldn't ever find them" Kouma said.

"Read that again, it says very clearly the order to find the criminals was just an excuse! They have been taking us for fools the entire time!" Dalia shouted, standing up.

"Then what are we here for? Any ideas?" Azalea wondered. Matthew leaned his head on a hand, the lens over his eye closing.

"I'm pretty sure those three they're looking for are among us. They must be keeping all us so they can catch the criminals"

"What about the rest of us? Are they just going to keep us trapped?!" Dalia was indignant. She had done nothing wrong, she didn't deserve to be here!

"They _kidnapped_ us. I doubt they have any scruples" Elaine said "You know what I think? I think they dragged us all here so they'd have an excuse to kill those criminals. Some of us die because the criminals kill us, and then the killers get executed"

Thioro didn't like the idea at all. "Why wouldn't they kill them right away if they knew who the criminals are?"

"Because at the start they didn't know who were the killers. They locked us all and set things up so the criminals would murder and reveal themselves"

"You think Patricio, Khotso and Vittoria were the criminals?" Lucien asked, crossing his arms.

"That'd be great! There wouldn't be any more murders!" Kouma said.

"It's too bad it doesn't make any sense for Vittoria to be one of them. You know what that means?" he leaned forward, looking at them all with suspicion. He was going to say this very clearly; this was something to keep in mind:

"I'm sure there's one left. _We have one murder ahead of us_ "

Needless to say, such statement was met with rejection. Dalia glared at Lucien, narrowing her eyes and raising a hand as if she was seriously considering grabbing him from the neck. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean what I said: there may be one murder more"

"So what do you propose we do? You want to wait until someone else dies?"

"I didn't say that and you know it"

Azalea whispered to Dalia, hoping to defuse the argument: "Dalia, calm down. We will—"

"I can't calm down! You realize what he means, right? Someone else will die, there will be another trial, and we'll once again put our lives on the line! I'm tired of trials and death; I just want all this to be over already!"

"Believe me, we all want that" Matthew said.

"We can't let anyone else die!"

She had good intentions, she really did. The frustration of having seen four deaths and four trials were taking a toll on her, she just wanted to stop anyone else from dying. Lucien pretty much stating it will happen had ticked her off because she wanted to think it wasn't certain, that they would be able to stop anything bad that could happen. Azalea understood all that, but shouting would lead nowhere. "You're right, we can't let any death happen. We have to arrange something"

Thioro put on the table the injection contraption he got from Monobear's office. "Let's finish our meeting first. Azalea, Matthew and I went together a moment ago and managed to find some very important clues..." The detective explained their findings, and showed the videocamera, saying they recorded everything they found. "The purpose of that liquid hasn't been determined yet, but there's no doubt Monobear has some sort of use for it"

"It must have. It's all too elaborate to be a lie" Kouma said "Right? You—don't you think?"

"We're in a virtual world, maybe it wouldn't have been much effort to make all that stuff" Lucien said.

"We can't dismiss all that stuff just because they could have made it to mess with us" Elaine said categorically. It'd be idiotic to throw away potentially useful clues just because of a possibility.

"Then what does it mean? Have they been injecting stuff into us?"

 _...now that I think about it..._ Thioro and Azalea exchanged a look, they were thinking the same thing. She remembered it clearly, the injection marks on every victim so far except Runihura. Did that mean the admins and Monobear had injected Lazarus Formula into them? Why? Why would they want to reduce the amount of pain and discomfort they'd suffer? If they kidnapped them, it was hard to believe they would have the decency to not make them suffer.

None of the other Hostages had any ideas why their kidnappers would have such a thing. Matthew said he'd understand if it was some sort of truth serum to force them to confess their secrets, but it was obvious the Lazarus Formula didn't do such thing. The discussion stagnated, they had no option other than to put an end to their meeting. Dalia leaned on the back of her chair, blowing a bit of hair off her face.

"So what now? We found out a few things, but I'm not sure where we can go with it"

"Let's take a breather, we have worked hard" Kouma proposed, putting something on the counter, some distance away. It was a large cake, covered with cream and strawberry. "Here's some food and—okay, I didn't get the drinks, but we're in a diner"

"Cake?" Elaine's mood brightened up for once, she approached out of her own volition. Kouma proudly smiled.

"Cake is always good—you'll love it, I chose it myself" she grabbed a large knife and started slicing the cake. Holding back her excitement, she beckoned Matthew. "Can you go get soda from the kitchen?"

"I'd have gone even if you hadn't asked!" Matthew said almost gallantly while he disappeared into the open door to the kitchen. Once the cake was sliced, Kouma stepped away, approaching Azalea.

"Can you give everyone a slice? I have to do something for a sec" Not having a reason to say no, Azalea agreed, approaching the counter and putting slices on plates. Meanwhile, Kouma approached everyone else, taking in her hands the stuff everybody had brought. One by one, everyone gave her what they had. The notes, the crinkled paper, the injection device, even the videocamera, it all was gathered and taken outside. Azalea watched it happen, unsure what was going on with that.

Noticing how she was staring at Kouma, Thioro shrugged, not worried about this. _If he thinks it's okay I guess there's nothing to worry about._ It bothered her all the evidence and stuff they had gotten was now in the hands of a single person, and that could make it easier to get rid of all of it – even if Kouma didn't do that – but she had to acknowledge Kouma's efforts. She was taking very seriously her try to help them during times like these. The least they could do was trust her.

Matthew came out of the kitchen, putting beside Azalea a tray with several cups filled with orange soda, and the bottle it all came from. "Where's Kouma?"

"She'll be back in a moment" Azalea said, carefully taking the plate with the slice she wanted, separating it from the rest.

"...fine?" Matthew didn't seem sure what to think about Kouma leaving while everyone else stayed in the diner, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. While Azalea took an empty tray to take the slices to everyone, he pointed with his thumb in direction of the kitchen "By the way, I found Kamiya in there"

Azalea looked at the open door. She couldn't see Kamiya from her current position. "Really? Why hasn't he come out here?"

"I asked him that! He said he just didn't want to bother us. I guess he regrets having helped Khotso with his murder plan long ago"

 _Good._ Less likely he'd try to kill anyone, then. Still, she'd have preferred him to be with the rest. Taking the tray with the cake, Azalea started distributing them to everyone. All the Hostages except Kamiya took their slice, while Matthew followed behind her, with the soda. They were almost done when Kouma returned.

"Thank you so much, guys, I knew we could rely on you" she said, genuinely grateful, and sat by an empty table. Azalea took her slice and sat with Kouma. She was feeling better than since Vittoria died – it still was a touchy topic, but she didn't feel like crying her eyes out anymore. It had been just as bad as when Chrysanthe had died, maybe even more because Vittoria had killed someone and tried to pin it on her.

Cake, soda and trying to relax for a moment was a godsend. She had to enjoy it while it lasted, because afterwards they'd have to arrange for a way to stop any future murder, if Lucien was right and there was at least one criminal among them. In front of her, Kouma dug into her slice and ate her strawberry immediately, commenting how delicious it was. Intending to enjoy her cake too, Azalea took a bite of cake.

"Hm? Kamiya? Over—over there" Kouma pointed behind Azalea, towards the entrance of the diner. Of course, Azalea looked at the direction Kouma pointed, seeing no one at the entrance door.

"I don't see him—" Azalea looked back, at her cake, and found the strawberry on top of her slice was gone. Kouma had an especially wide smile, chewing something. "...Kouma"

"Hm?"

"My strawberry"

Caught, the marathoner giggled sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just that I like strawberries a lot – a whole lot"

"...fine" Annoyed, Azalea just kept eating.

The peace lasted barely a minute more before a hissing sound emanated from overhead them. Everyone looked up, trying to find the source of the sound, and saw exactly what it was: gray, opaque vapor emerged from the ventilation shaft. _What the hell?!_ Azalea, Lucien and Dalia stood up, jumping away from the vapor. "Get away, everyone!"

"Go, get out!" Thioro said, looking around to try to pinpoint any options in case going outside didn't work – and indeed, Elaine immediately tried to open the door. The door rattled, hit the frame, but refused to open. Something was blocking the door from outside.

"It's stuck!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Kouma stood up too and grabbed the handle, pushing too. The door didn't budge not even an inch. Above them, the vapor kept spreading, reaching Lucien first.

"Everyone get down!" Lucien yelled, grabbing Thioro and pretty much throwing him to the ground. That was just delaying the effects on Thioro, and since Lucien was the first one to breath the vapor, he was the first one to fall. Coughing and feebly trying to catch himself before he fell to the floor, Lucien lost consciousness.

"It's some sort of anesthetic!" the detective yelled, and by the rate it was spreading, it'd barely take a minute for the entire diner to be filled with it.

Kouma jumped on one of the tables, starting to sweat heavily, and started kicking it, trying to dislodge the pane of glass. Even though the glass shook, no cracks formed on the glass, it didn't budge. "Oh god oh god oh god—"

"Out of my way!" Elaine had grabbed a trashcan, intending to break the glass with it. She already looked woozy from the anesthetic gas, she managed to give only one blow to the glass before collapsing. Almost as if in cue, behind everyone the sound of someone else fainting got their attention. Matthew had fallen near the kitchen door.

Dalia held her hand against her nose. "There could be a way out through the kitchen!"

"There isn't...any..." that was all Azalea managed to say before she was forced to take a lungful of anesthetic gas. Dizzy and trying hard to stay awake, Azalea slowly sat down, leaning against the base of the counter. _Why...how..._ From her vantage point, she saw someone appear at the kitchen doorway. Her numbed mind barely processed what she was seeing. A white lab coat, almost reaching that person's ankles, and on their face a gas mask. Kamiya.

The last thought when she fainted was of dread at what she'd find when she woke up.

-ooooo-

When Azalea woke up the first thing she noticed was that it was sunset. How long had they been knocked out? Two hours, at least? "That was some strong anesthetic..." She had a strong headache, her limbs felt like they were made of lead. Groggy and wishing she didn't have to move, she tried to recall what had happened.

Right...for some reason anesthetic gas had come out of the vents. Everyone had tried to get out of the diner, the windows refused to break. The door was locked. There was no way out...

Cold breeze made Azalea shiver. Weakly, she adjusted her position, wondering where the breeze was coming from. Struggling to stand up, she put her hand on the counter. At least she still was on the same place, instead of stashed in a cupboard. There also was no blood on her—

With a shriek, she realized her hand was once again coated with blood. Snapping awake, Azalea moved her hands in front of her face to examine them, hoping this time was because she had a wound on a hand. What she found was worse than she expected. Her other hand had been gripping something. She had been so woozy, shaking off the effects of the anesthetic she hadn't noticed the object her hand had been gripping, and now that she saw what it was, she wished she hadn't ever noticed.

It was someone's hand, attached to a forearm, and beyond that, nothing. Terrified, feeling the bile rising to her throat, she threw the forearm away, as far away of her as she could. The arm crashed against the glass, flopping onto the floor lifelessly, while Azalea breathed heavily, shaking and staring at her fingers, as if she expected another arm and forearm to appear in her grasp. _What the hell?! What the hell is going on?!_

Gasps and similar screams of terror surrounded her. To her side, Dalia squealed, jumped backwards and dropped what was in her hands. "Oh my god!"

"Kouma!" someone else shouted.

All Azalea could do was stare at the head that rolled towards her, the head of someone she knew. Although her eyes were closed, the rest of her face had an expression of terror that was heart-wrenching to Azalea. _This can't be happening! This must be a dream; this can't be happening!_

 **Kouma Nana was dead.**


	37. Chapter 5: Prelude IV

It took quite a while for everyone in the diner to calm down enough to think of what to do. Azalea sat to a table, grabbing her head with her hands and staring blankly at a random wall, trying very hard to ignore the blood, the fretting conversations around her, the knot in her throat, the way Lucien's words kept repeating over and over in her mind:

There'd be one murder more – and it happened.

Even if someone had killed today, why did it have to be so brutal? Dismemberment was beyond cold-blooded! What did Kouma do to deserve such thing? That was another thing to wonder about. Everyone was at the same place, everyone was equally defenseless, why did someone choose Kouma? Was it convenience? Did the killer have a grudge against her, for some reason? ...would Azalea have been killed if she had been closer to the killer or something? The thought of someone coming to kill her while she was completely defenseless was terrifying.

Trying to suppress the shivers that crawled over her spine, Azalea stood up and meandered towards the kitchen. Her hands were sticky, stained with Kouma's blood. She washed her hands in the sink, scrubbing every bit of blood off her skin, pretending this didn't remind her of how she woke up that very same morning.

The noises from the diner itself flared up. Shaking her hands to dry them, Azalea returned, finding the source of the commotion. Given what happened, she had expected Monobear to be there, ready to sneer and give them a file. Monobear was nowhere to be seen, though.

Instead, Stripes was there. Everyone was shouting at him, demanding explanations and telling him to scram. Stripes took everything in stride, standing there with the smile that was sewn on his face, and not saying a word until everyone calmed down a bit. When there was enough silence to speak, he said: "About time you guys shut up. You don't have long to investigate yet you were wasting it all shouting at me"

"Don't you dare mock us!" Lucien protested, pointing with his entire hand at the diner. "Kouma was brutally murdered. We don't have time for you!"

"Maybe if you let me do what I came here to do I'd already be gone, just saying" although he sounded civil enough, Azalea detected annoyance in his voice. Deciding to take a grasp of the situation, Azalea stepped towards Stripes.

"That's enough" she said "Where's Monobear?"

"Monobear's feeling sick and won't be able to come" Stripes replied crisply. _Really? Could he be doing damage control because of our investigations earlier?_ That was the only reason Azalea could think for he not being there. Taking advantage of the silence, he took out a small pile of files. "I'll be blunt: I have no interest in any of you, so don't expect me to play therapist to anyone. Spots' the one who would do that but she's busy with Monobear, so just take this and start your investigation"

"How can you take this so calmly? Kouma was _dismembered_!" Matthew yelled. Stripes' ears twitched, unamused.

"I have had death staring at me right to my face before. I saw my girlfriend's charred corpse. Some stranger's death? I don't give a shit"

There was real venom and disdain in Stripes' words. Never before he had showed such clear animosity towards them, without even a bit of sympathy towards someone's horrible death. Azalea bit back the strong reply she wanted to give, and instead extended her hand, wordlessly requesting the file. Once she had it in her hand she read it, immediately being disappointed. _This is almost useless!_

 **Monobear File #5**

 _Victim: Kouma Nana_

"All this says is the name of the victim! We can't do anything with this" Lucien protested, putting the file away. Stripes simply shrugged. That was none of his concern.

Thioro turned off the file, with a face of disgust. "At least we know it really is Kouma – not that there were any doubts" It was hard to think otherwise when they had her head on a table over there. "We can be sure the reason why she was dismembered wasn't to hide her identity"

"There aren't that many among us with dark skin. Only Dalia and her were left" Azalea said. She wasn't too surprised Thioro was able to talk nonchalantly about something like a friend being dismembered.

"We should try to find out why the killer went this far. That could be the key to understand what's going on"

 _All I know is that the killer is a heartless person!_ She looked around, creeped out. Once they all had a moment to calm down, they gathered the few body parts that were around. Azalea left the forearm and hand on the table, while Dalia put the head there. Elaine had woken up holding a leg, and the writer left the diner, saying she had to take a walk to calm down, Matthew staying behind because he wanted to investigate. _There are so few body parts, too...why would the killer leave only an arm, a leg and the head?_

 **Dismemberment**

 _Kouma's head, arm and leg were left at the Diner. Dalia was given the head, Azalea the arm, and Elaine the leg. The rest of Kouma's body is nowhere to be seen_

Thioro looked around carefully, examining the floor with appraising eye. "Azalea, take a look around. Doesn't it strike you a bit strange?"

Obeyind his indication, Azalea examined the place. It was a mess, plates were around the floor, puddles of soda and crumbles of cake covered the surfaces everywhere. The panic that had ensued had caused such a mess Azalea was glad this was a virtual simulation and it could all be cleaned in an instant. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to notice. What is it?"

"Kouma was dismembered. Obviously, if you lose a limb, you're bound to lose a lot of blood even if you're dead during the dismemberment. Look around, though"

That was the only hint Azalea needed to see what he meant. "Why's there almost no blood in here?"

It was to be expected a couple limbs lying around would stain things with blood, but there was nothing that indicated those limbs were separated from the body anywhere in the diner. A quick look into the kitchen showed no blood either. "Could it be...Kouma died somewhere else?"

"I think there's a high chance she was dismembered somewhere else. It's possible she died here from causes that don't involve spilling blood"

Azalea swayed idly on her feet. "But the diner was locked! We all were trapped inside! How's it possible Kouma and the killer were somewhere else?"

"That's what we'll have to solve"

 **Lack of Blood**

 _It's possible Kouma was dismembered in a place other than the diner, due to the lack of blood inside the diner._

"The fact we haven't found a saw or anything like that hints that too. We'll have to search the rest of the resort—"

"Or you can look at this" a voice cut into their conversation, Azalea turned around and found Matthew standing behind her, holding a weird-looking hatchet in a hand. It looked more like a weapon than something meant to cut wood. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"What's that?!"

"I dunno! But look at all the blood on it. Not hard to guess what it was used for, right?" he waved the blade around carelessly, Azalea and Thioro kept their distance from Matthew, just in case. The detective wiped his fingertips on his tie.

"Looks like something you'd find in the armory. More proof something happened somewhere other than the diner"

"Or the killer hid it before everything happened" he shrugged. "Why don't you ask the killer?"

"What do you mean?"

"The killer, there in the kitchen. I found this hatchet in his hand" he pointed at the door to the currently open kitchen. Unsure what he was pointing at, Azalea approached the door and moved it, finding something she hadn't noticed before.

There was a small crevice behind the door, embedded into the wall of the kitchen – presumably so if the door was banged open, the doorknob wouldn't dent the wall. Among lots of containers of cleaning products, Kamiya was sitting there, his hands just as bloody as Azalea's were.

 **Hatchet**

 _A bloody hatchet from the armory. Most likely used to dismember Kouma. Kamiya had it in his hand._

"Wait, are you telling me Kamiya is the killer?"

"I'm not" Kamiya said quietly.

"Then why were you hiding back here?" Matthew asked, not convinced at all. Kamiya flexed his fingers, rubbing his bruised knuckles.

"...I dunno" he mumbled. He sounded woozy, almost disoriented. "I remember I was leaving my cottage when something hit me on the back of my neck. I think it's a miracle I didn't die"

Matthew scoffed. "I don't believe that at all. Right, Thioro?"

The detective bit the tip of his tongue, exhaling noisily in what clearly was skepticism. "By now you should know nothing's as simple as it seems at first" the mechanic had no reply for that. _Does that mean the killer's trying to frame Kamiya?_ There was no proof, though. Kamiya's behavior could be easily faked. "Next I remember is this guy taking something out of my hand"

"Did you hear anything?" Azalea asked. Kamiya blinked, the lenses of his gas mask fogged up, and he adjusted it slowly, like he was unsure what he was grabbing.

"...no. I just...I don't know. I don't remember" _This isn't going anywhere_. Besides, it was rather suspicious that Kamiya had been nowhere to be seen ever since the meeting started. Had it truly been because he had been knocked out, or was it because he had schemed something?

 **Missing Kamiya**

 _Kamiya was nowhere to be seen during the meeting. He was found behind the kitchen door. Matthew was the last person to see him, informing Kamiya was at the diner_

Thioro crouched down, grabbing Kamiya from his lab coat and carefully pulling him out of the hole in the wall. "Can you stand up?"

"I can" he said, not sounding certain about that. Thioro offered a hand to help him stand up, but Kamiya rejected it, grabbing the wall and shakily moving towards the diner. Not too long afterwards, they heard a 'what the hell...' coming from the diner. Kamiya had seen the scene. Matthew clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

"I tell you, he's fooling around"

Thioro scratched his stubble, unconvinced. "Maybe. You know what, we're going to split. Azalea, I'll check Kouma's remains. Will you handle the kitchen?" once Azalea confirmed she would, Thioro nodded. Matthew pumped a fist.

"I'll help you, Azalea!"

"That won't be necessary. She's capable" the detective said, grabbing Matthew's elbow "Come over here, I need a hand"

"But I want to—"

"If you want to help someone then help me" he said bluntly, pulling from the engineer out of the kitchen, leaving Azalea alone in there. She chuckled nervously, a bit weirded out by the detective's insistence in leaving her to investigate the kitchen all by herself. _I better get started if I want to get done soon._

Cracking her knuckles and twisting her hips around as if she was warming up to exercise, she looked around, evaluating the situation. It was a bit of a large kitchen, with a few appliances, a grill, an oven, the stove, the fridge, all those cupboards. If she examined everything, then it'd take her ages to get done! "Come on, Thioro, another person helping me would have been nice" she sighed. She had to make priorities. What was likely to be involved in the case...?

The cake. Kouma had gotten a cake for the meeting, it may have been from there. Looking around, Azalea found no cakes anywhere. In fact, there was no prepared food, everything that could be eaten was frozen or uncooked. There was nothing remotely similar to a cake.

 **Kitchen Contents**

 _There's no food ready to be eaten. All food is frozen or uncooked._

She wasn't sure if that was useful information or not, but she judged it may be good to keep in mind. The only contents she found was bottles of juice, soda and similar products, all of them sealed with plastic and stashed in the large fridge.

Satisfied with her examination of the food, she went to where Kamiya had been found. There were a lot of cleaning products, none of them seemed untouched at all. Other than an empty space where Kamiya had been huddled at, everything seemed untouched, although covered by a thick layer of dust.

Azalea glanced at the clock, puffing her cheeks with worry. She had spent quite a while investigating the kitchen, Monobear could announce the start of the trial at any moment. She didn't have time to check everything! What else was important? What could—

"The extractor hood"

Could that be a way out? It led to the outside, it could be the key to solving the mystery of how Kouma and/or the culprit left the diner. The only other potential way out was a window not much bigger than her head – too small for someone to pass through. Motivated by the thought of finding a way out of the diner, Azalea approached the stove and looked inside the extractor hood.

She didn't know what she expected to find, yet she was disappointed when she found nothing at first sight. The extractor hood turned into a rather narrow chimney that, although led through the roof, was an even less likely way out than the window. Examining the chimney wasn't a waste of time, though. Through the darkness she saw a couple vents that branched somewhere else. Did the chimney divide into three different chimneys spread all over the roof? Or...

"It can't be this diner is so badly designed the ventilation system is connected to the chimney, right?"

"It is" a voice behind her said. Azalea gasped, trying to get out of the extractor hood, and hit her head onto the inner wall, a dull ringing noise shaking her head. Rubbing the place where she had hit her head, she looked at the person – the plush animal that had just bothered her. It was Spots. The blue animal was there, looking nervous in a way that wasn't well represented by the frown sewn onto her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The vents are connected to this. We thought...my logic was that when you cooked food here, the good smells would spread all over the diner that way. There are filters that will keep smoke from reaching the diner, just the good smells. I thought that'd be cool" she explained, her voice flat, almost monotone. It was so strange to hear her so disheartened Azalea couldn't resist asking:

"Are you okay?"

"...no. I'm not okay" she answered "I can't tell you anything about it, please don't ask more. Anyway, about the ventilation...I want to give you a tip"

"What kind of tip?"

Spots approached. Her frown was more solemn when seen from such a short distance. "The key to solve this trial. Azalea, you guys can't let the culprit get away with this. We admins would deal with this by ourselves, but we can't. They don't even know I'm telling you this, they're out of the room right now, so listen and remember:

If you need to think about how to get out of this diner, ask us to come here and examine that chimney. Okay?"

Azalea narrowed her eyes, very suspicious of that tip. It sounded to her like Spots was trying to be _too_ helpful. "That's very specific. Is there something wrong with that chimney?"

"Maybe"

"Stop being vague and just tell me!"

Spots raised her paws in the air. "Oh dear, you're shouting! That's my cue to leave!" as if it was cute of her to react in such a flippant way, Spots faded away. Azalea extended her hands, trying to grab her, her hands phasing through the place Spots had been at, gripping nothing. Growling with frustration, she gripped the edges of the chimney, examining it carefully and finding nothing. _What was she talking about?!_ It took her a moment to find something she hadn't noticed before, somehow. There was the glint of glass, taped right into the edge of the extractor hood. The reason she hadn't noticed it before was because from her position she hadn't been able to take a good look at that part of the hood.

 _Is this...?_ Was this what Spots had been talking about? It certainly was strange. Azalea took one of the glass objects and took a better look. It was a very small vial, enough to hold just a few millimeters of some liquid. It was currently empty, and the inside didn't have not even a drop of liquid. She had no idea what it used to have, there weren't any labels in it.

 **Glass Vials**

 _A bunch of tiny glass vials. They were stuck to the inside of the extractor hood. There's nothing left inside the vials_

If there was someone who could tell her about what these vials maybe once had, it was Kamiya – although she had to admit it was a long shot because that'd rely on his memory of the contents of the pharmacy. Kamiya wasn't even a SHSL, would he really be able to tell?

Deciding it was worth a try and that not doing it would be more dangerous, Azalea left the kitchen, taking the vials with her. Kamiya was sitting to the counter, Thioro accompanying him and giving him coffee in an effort to wake him up. When Azalea approached, Thioro stood up to receive her, putting a hand over the back of Kamiya's neck. "He's recovering from whatever happened. Is it urgent?"

"It could be" Azalea said, showing the vials to Thioro. Seeing it was worth asking about, the detective stepped aside. The instigator sat in front of Kamiya, putting one of the vials within his reach. "Sorry to bother you, but can you tell me what was inside this before?"

Kamiya didn't even take the vial. He glanced at it, staring at it as if he expected to see any marks on the glass anywhere, and shook his head, holding his mask with both hands. "Hmmm...can't. Sorry" he mumbled. Azalea, disappointed, pushed the vial around with a finger, unsure what to do with it now. If they couldn't find what once filled the vial...

"Any info you can give her?"

"Where...where did you say this was at?"

"It was taped inside the exhaust hood, in the kitchen" Azalea answered.

"...that so...?" that seemed to bring something to mind. "Are you aware of how external stimuli can change a chemical into different states?"

"Like boiling and freezing?"

"Exactly. Such changes can...they can happen with the right stimuli. Like when you use tea leaves to make tea"

"I'm not sure that's the same thing" Thioro commented. Kamiya blinked, and grabbed his head again.

"My bad. My head feels all scrambled" he said "Azalea, you should check if you can move the exhaust hood. And also...um...there could be a way for you to find out what these were"

"Really?"

"Hm...go to the pharmacy. Look for anything similar to these vials...they're pretty small, I don't think a lot of stuff would be packaged in tiny vials"

It was worth a try. There had been several vials, it was possible there were more left. "I will!"

"And if you do find out then come and tell me what they are. I could...maybe I could tell you what'd happen with them. If my head's feeling lighter by then. Sorry" he mumbled, he truly sounded disoriented. _Maybe he was telling the truth about having been knocked out._

Having a plan now, Azalea decided to organize her course of action: first she'd check the exhaust hood, then the rest of the diner, just in case, and finally the pharmacy. That should give Kamiya enough time to recover, and enough time for her to check around and try to find other clues that may be useful. Anything to solve this murder!

Just like he suggested, examining the exhaust hood was helpful. A quick examination showed it could be moved up and down, even getting so close to the stove the edges of the exhaust hood touched the buttons of the stove. She wasn't sure what significance this had, but it had to be meaningful in some manner, that she was sure about.

Having seen that, Azalea returned to the diner itself. She had been about to step outside when she saw what was on the counter. For a moment she wasn't sure if she should take a look at those objects, but she decided she couldn't leave stone unturned if she had a bit of time. That was why she took the tray with the cake, and the soda bottles.

Her efforts were in vain. No matter how much she examined those, she couldn't find anything strange. The leftover soda was flat; its color was normal. The bottles themselves weren't even dented. These soda bottles were perfectly normal. The only thing Azalea could think could be worth nothing was who had brought them – and that was pretty useless by itself.

 **Soda Bottles**

 _Bottles from the kitchen of the diner. Completely normal. There are no signs of any tampering. Matthew brought them when Kouma requested soda for everyone._

Leaving the soda aside, Azalea focused on the leftover cake. There were only a couple slices left, very appetizing slices she had no appetite for. The thought of Kouma having thought of getting cake for everyone...it depressed her. Even if it was only for a short while, Kouma tried to help them and to give everyone a chance to investigate about their situation _. It's unfair she died. Why did she die? Why'd anyone want to kill her?_

 **Slices of Cake**

 _A cake Kouma acquired. Vanilla. Everyone received their own slice of cake, Azalea was the one who distributed the slices. All slices had a strawberry on top. There are no signs of tampering._

Examining the soda and the cake only made her sad. If she expected it to make her feel better, she was rather disappointed. She didn't even have the willpower to push all those things away, all she could do was nudge them towards the center of the counter, feeling a weird numbness overcoming her. _I'm going to find who did this to you, Kouma_. Somehow, she would. She had done it four times already, how hard could it be to do it a fifth time? Maybe it was that reckless confidence what made Azalea feel a bit better, enough to continue with the plan she had outlined for herself not too long ago. Azalea put a hand on the door that'd lead her out of the diner, and stopped.

 _The diner was closed..._

But, if she recalled correctly, it was found open once everyone woke up. That meant somehow it had opened up while everyone was knocked out, that was an indisputable fact. Azalea examined the door, hoping to check the lock, and her eyes widened when she found the edges of the door were completely smooth. There was no lock, or even anything that could be used to hold the door shut. That's impossible! If there was no such thing, how could nobody go out through this door?

Testing the door by moving it on its hinges didn't reveal anything. Slowly, Azalea opened it and stepped outside, noticing something only when the sunlight covered the surface of the door: there was a footprint on it. It wasn't like someone had just put their foot against the wood of the door, it even was embedded into the wood. Someone had stomped or kicked it with a lot of strength.

 _We're going to go through a lot of trouble to find out who this belongs to._ Asking everyone for their shoe, examining the size of everyone's feet...there was no time for such a thing. Still, something like this had to be important. Azalea had been about to ask Thioro to take care of this when an idea crossed her mind. "Wait, could it be...?"

Maybe they were rather lucky the killer had left parts of Kouma there. Grossed out, and wishing she didn't have to do such a thing, Azalea grabbed Kouma's leg and took it to the door, making sure not to stain her hands with blood again. Carefully, she placed the foot against the print, to compare the size, and examined the design of the shoe. It was all a perfect match.

 **Locked Diner**

 _Before everyone fell asleep, the diner was found to be locked. When everyone woke up, the only door of the diner was unlocked. The door opens towards the outside. There's a footprint on the door, it matches Kouma – meaning Kouma at some point kicked the door with a lot of strength._

If she had kicked it so strongly, then why didn't it open? Or could it be it _did_ open and they just hadn't found clues pointing that out yet? Hoping to add another piece to the puzzle, Azalea examined the outside of the diner. What she did find maybe wasn't what she was looking for, but at least this meant she did find something. "Isn't this the box Kouma put all that stuff in?" she said, grabbing the heavy box and managing to flip if towards her. It had been on its top, like it had rolled some distance, and all its contents had spilled out along the way. Even though the box was empty, Azalea had some difficulty moving it. _If it's this heavy, then how did Kouma move it when it was full of stuff_! Kouma was a lot stronger than they all had given her credit.

 **Box of Items**

 _A wooden box Kouma used to put all their evidence in. Rather heavy, even when empty. It was left outside the diner._

There had been so many objects inside the box she doubted all of them would fit in her hands. Slowly, she grabbed one by one and put them inside the box, quickly deciding which ones were worth keeping and which ones would be no more than dead weight. Shockingly, she decided the stuff she had brought were what mattered – if she didn't keep an eye on those, Monobear or someone else could steal them. They did take those things from his office, after all. Azalea made sure to take those items, just in case. They could be useful.

 **Injector**

 _A device similar to a syringe, obtained from Monobear's office. Empty._

 **Lazarus Formula #1**

 _The Lazarus Formula is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless liquid. When injected into the bloodstream, it'll cause a peaceful death in five minutes._

 **Lazarus Formula #2**

 _When ingested, the Lazarus Formula will cause death in an hour. Symptoms of poisoning with this compound include excessive sweating, vomiting, and headaches._

Better taking it than letting Monobear get rid of proof that could be useful against him.

Azalea had folded the documents about the formula when she noticed the videocamera Thioro had brought and put in the box. Even though it had been left there since at least two hours ago, the red light that indicated it was recording was still on. Does that mean it has two hours of video in there right now? Most of it was likely to be black or almost black screens due to having been stashed in a box all this time. Still, the videocamera also had the video of their exploration of Monobear's office. Azalea grabbed it, turning it in her hands and looking for how to take the disc out. "Why does this thing have to be so complicated?"

Her only option was to take the entire videocamera. Sighing, she passed her shoulder through the strap, hoping she wouldn't slip and fall while holding that. The last thing she needed was to crush the camera with her body.

 **Videocamera**

 _Runihura's camera, fixed by Thioro. Contains a video of their search of Monobear's office. Kouma put this camera in the box with the rest of the items._

There was only one thing left to do. Feeling the weight of all the stuff she had with her, Azalea hobbled towards the glitchy building, hoping Kamiya was right and in there there'd be vials just like the ones she found in the extractor hood. That was the one puzzle piece she wasn't sure about yet. If she could deduce what that was for...maybe she'd pinpoint the killer.

The glitchy building was empty when Azalea arrived. Avoiding to look at where Sigrun had been found, she hurried behind the counter, to the shelves willed with all kinds of chemicals and medicines. Azalea rooted through the bottles, the glasses clinking and liquids swishing, until she found an open box that seemed to have just what she was looking for. A quick look inside showed what it was. Many tiny vials. The outside of the box informed rather well what it was:

Chloroform.

 _Of course it was._ Still, better take that to Kamiya and see what he had to say. Azalea squared her shoulders and grabbed the box, walking slowly to not knock a bottle over. She knew she didn't have that much time to mess around, but she sure didn't want to find out what'd happen if she broke some of those bottles! Knocking herself out right before a trial would be of no help to anyone.

She had barely descended the stairs when Dalia approached running, bringing Lucien with her. "Oh my gosh, Azalea, I'm so happy you're here!" Dalia said, seeing the box and keeping her hands away. "Um...what are you hauling around?"

"It's for the trial. What's up?"

"We found blood" Lucien said. "Right over there, on the path to the cottages"

"There's a lot of it" Dalia said.

That could only mean a handful of things, and none of them was good. Azalea followed them to the place they had found the blood – a large puddle, spilling onto the cobblestone and staining everything. Given what happened to Kouma, it wasn't hard to guess what this was from. "So this is where..."

"Where she was torn apart" Lucien confirmed. "Before you ask, no, the rest of her body isn't around here"

"It's not?"

"What if the killer threw her over the stone fence lining the resort?" Dalia quietly wondered. For a moment Azalea stared at them, processing what Dalia had just suggested, and hurried to the stone fence.

"Please hold me!" she requested, climbing the fence to reach the top of it. Four hands grabbed her from the hip, while she bent forward all she could to take a look into the infinite sky surrounding Heavenly Resort.

The skybox was empty. It was unlikely she had chosen the spot where the killer theoretically may have thrown the body at, but from her position, Azalea could see the vastness of what was beneath the resort. Even if the body was directly under where she was looking from, she wouldn't be able to distinguish it, it most likely would be no more than a black speck in middle of the sky.

"Nothing we can do" Azalea decided. All they could do was taken the evidence they had found and make guesses based on them.

"We also found something else, but we're not sure how relevant it is..." Lucien said, turning his head towards a side, focusing on a puddle of something else behind one of the cottages. There, very clearly in the grass, was a puddle of vomit. "No idea how long that has been there"

"It's gross, but not sure if it matters" Dalia said, pointedly avoiding to look at it.

Azalea did the same, unwilling to approach.

Lucien, having seen they didn't want to approach someone's vomit, rolled his eyes as if they were being terribly unreasonable. "I already took a look. There's nothing strange about it, so you're not really missing anything by staying here"

"Good, good" Azalea said, pretending she wasn't very relieved. "But it's something that wasn't there before and now it is. We can't just ignore it, even if we wanted"

 **Pool of Blood**

 _A lot of blood in the cottages area. Possibly a sign Kouma was killed and dismembered there. There's no sign of the rest of Kouma's body._

 **Vomit**

 _A puddle of vomit in the cottages area. There's nothing strange or unusual, it's not even clear who left it._

"Is that all you guys found?"

"Pretty much. At least we found something – I sure didn't want to have to check anything at the diner" Dalia shuddered, rubbing her arms to get rid of her goosebumps.

"I share her reticence. Did you get everything you wanted there?" Lucien said. _In a moment I will._ All she had to do was ask Kamiya what he thought about the chloroform she had found. Surely a pharmacist would be able to tell her more than just the very basics she knew!

When she arrived back to the diner, Kamiya seemed to be doing a little better. Somehow he was managing to eat some of the leftover cake, chewing slowly and with an expression of disgust in his face. It was incredible he was able to eat when Kouma's remains were near him. Thioro was over there, examining her wrist, looking up when Azalea left the box with vials on the table. "Ah, you found something!"

"What do you know about chloroform?" Azalea asked Kamiya. The pharmacist took one of the vials, looking inside through the glass. He tapped the seal, nodding when he found out it's firmly covering the mouth of the vial.

He carefully put it with the rest. "I know all there's to know about chloroform. It used to be an anesthetic, back when medicine wasn't as developed as it is now. It went out of style because it's rather harmful, in general"

Thioro gulped, a tad nervous. "Azalea, you said you found some of these vials in the kitchen, right?"

"Empty vials taped to the exhaust hood"

"Without seals, yeah?" Kamiya put a hand against his forehead. He seemed to be doing better now, but he didn't want to overexert himself. "That's a problem...chloroform has some properties that can make it tricky to have around"

"What kind of properties?"

"Its evaporation point is rather low. If exposed to a heat source, I figure it would evaporate and spread quickly..."

Azalea realized what had made Thioro so nervous. Given the location and state of the vials she found in the kitchen, it wasn't hard to imagine what may have happened. "If it was an anesthetic then it knocks people out, doesn't it?"

"That may have been what made us all fall unconscious" Thioro voiced the rest of Azalea's train of logic. Kamiya dropped his hand, looking at them with badly disguised concern, obvious even though the gas mask.

"I sure hope not!"

"Why?"

"I told you chloroform is rather harmful! If everyone breathed a lot of that..." he stood up, approaching Azalea "How's your throat? Do you feel dizzy? Nausea?"

"No! I...I don't feel so bad, actually!" Azalea said, starting to freak out. Those were some rather strong reactions from the usually calm Kamiya. The pharmacist fretted, anxious.

"The symptoms aren't as bad as they should be...I imagine that's the admins' work. They must be suppressing the superficial effects, for the sake of the trial. We can't pinpoint the killer if we're all drowsy and vomiting around"

Thioro pulled from Kamiya's coat, forcing him to sit down again. "Okay, buddy, you clearly know something, so tell it to us straight. We don't have time to mess around" _Obviously it's bad, but how bad is it?!_ Part of Azalea didn't want to hear it, another wanted to know so they could put that behind them for now. Trying to stay calm, she gripped her arms, awaiting the bad news.

"...substantial exposures to chloroform are _fatal_ "

"Fatal?!" Azalea shrieked, unable to stop herself. Kamiya nodded gravely.

"It's a miracle we're alive right now. The amount of chloroform we inhaled must have been a lethal dose, we..." he took a deep breath "We're dead men walking. My guess is that we have around **12 hours** before it all ends.

Whoever set that chloroform gas onto all of us is responsible for mass murder. **We're all going to die** "

Thioro went pale. He did know things were bad, but he didn't think it was _mass murder_ bad! "Then how are we all okay? If we were all going to die, we'd be worse than this!"

"I told you, the admins must be keeping our symptoms at bay. They can't let us be all sick during a trial! But once that's done—"

"They're just going to let us _die_?!" she hoped Spots and Stripes wouldn't be so cold they would do that.

The detective adjusted his tie, distressed. "Okay, listen here, guys: we can't let the others find out about this. If they find out we'll all die, panic will ensue. Don't. Tell. Anyone" _I sure won't!_ The last thing they needed was everyone to freak out. Besides, they had other important things to worry about. Their impending deaths had to wait.

 **Glass Vials (update)**

 _A bunch of tiny glass vials. They were stuck to the inside of the extractor hood. These vials used to have chloroform. Heating them up would cause the contents to evaporate._

The already tense mood worsened when the usual chime announced Monobear was going to talk. This time it wasn't Monobear, though. Instead, Spots' voice made the announcement. "Um...can you guys please go to the train station? It's time for the trial" the rather short announcement ended, leaving behind a nasty silence Azalea wasn't sure could be fixed.

"...we have to get going" Thioro finally said "You think you can go by yourself, Kamiya?" the pharmacist shook his head. "Hold onto me. Come on" while the detective grabbed Kamiya and made sure he'd be able to carry him, he waved at Azalea "We'll be going ahead. Make sure you have all the evidence you need"

Soon Azalea was left alone. She almost couldn't believe what she had heard: they had very few hours to live. They not only had to solve this trial as soon as possible, they also had to try to solve all the mysteries of the kidnappers' plan. No way they could let their lives end without finding out what was going on.

She just hoped their lives would last long enough for that.

Rubbing her neck and trying to feel anything unusual that could indicate she was about to die, Azalea stood up. She hated she had only a few hours left of life. She had been about to leave the diner when a hand slammed onto the door of the diner. Startled, Azalea gasped and stepped back, calming down slightly when she sees it's Matthew. "You scared me!"

"Yeah?" he smirked a bit, pushing Azalea inside and closing the door behind him. He crossed his arms, leaning on the door and looking at Azalea with twisted amusement, so twisted Azalea felt her legs trembling.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" she asked, trying to be calm.

"...what a boring response. So boring" he sighed theatrically, the back of his hand against his forehead. "I'm almost disappointed!"

"Can you stop messing around?" she raised her voice, trying to reach the door handle, Matthew batting her hand away.

"I just wanted to hear what you thought about this murder. Do you know the culprit yet?"

"I shouldn't talk about that. Wait for the trial"

Matthew lowered his voice, pushing the door with his back even more. "Okay, but I thought you'd be interested in knowing I know who the killer is"

"You...you do?"

"Do you want to hear the name?" it sounded so casual, like he was asking her if she wanted to know who won a sports event the day before, so wrong Azalea stepped back instinctively, she wanted to stay out of Matthew's reach. She didn't reply, instead watching his movements carefully, in case he tried to hurt her. "You do. I see it in your eyes"

Still no reply.

"...it was me. I did it"

"Really?" Azalea saw no reason to doubt, not after what Matthew was doing right now.

Matthew nodded. "Pretty much. I killed Kouma, and before 24 hours the rest of us will be dead as well"

For a moment Azalea stared at Matthew, until she laughed nervously, making sure there'd be a table between her and Matthew. "You're crazy. So what? What are you going to do now? Kill me?"

"Kill you? Why?"

"Why else would you tell me?!" she spat "That's the kind of thing you say to someone you're going to kill!"

Matthew puffed his cheeks. "No, I'm not going to kill you now. I just thought you should know" with a shrug, he stepped away from the door and opened it, holding it open with a hand "What you do from it is up to you, but I think you don't have many options"

"Okay, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" she was very relieved the door was open now, but with Matthew in the way, she couldn't run outside. Part of her was very alarmed, as if she thought once Matthew left the diner would explode or anything like that.

"You haven't found any definite evidence, have you? You couldn't even accuse me earlier"

"That's..."

The engineer's lens peered into her soul, rotating and staring at her mercilessly. "Good luck, Azalea. I can't wait for the trial" and without further words, he left. Azalea swallowed, her throat dry, and she rushed into the kitchen to drink some water and try to calm down the increasing nausea she felt. Matthew had waited for the chance to tell her that, that was for sure, but why? What was the point of confessing to her, if he was telling the truth? He even said it: she didn't have evidence pointing at anyone! Admitting his crime made no sense. Did he have some sort of plan or intentions she couldn't guess?

 _What would Elaine think of this...?_ For some reason, Elaine's reaction was something she was wondering about. She was sure Elaine would be very distraught over this.

Azalea gripped the tap of the sink, opening it full and trying to drink as much water as she could, relishing in how cold it felt. The coldness helped her think a bit better. She should tell everyone right at the start of the trial, that Matthew had admitted being the killer...but then they'd ask for proof, wouldn't they? And they would discuss why Matthew would say such a thing.

Maybe she could command them to vote for Matthew. With the right words, she could rile them up and instigate them to vote for him, especially if they are aiming at someone who isn't the killer.

As she saw it, the best way to deal with this would be to do nothing. She had to fight and argue just like she had done in four trials so far: building a case from nothing. She had someone to aim for, she just had to chain the evidence to point at him somehow!

 _...no idea how, but I have to._

When Azalea stepped onto the station, everyone was already getting into the train. Azalea entered as well, without looking at anyone, and set her forehead against one of the windows while the train started moving. There were no clouds in the sky, but despite that, it felt like something big and horrible was coming in the horizon. Maybe it was their imminent deaths thanks to the chloroform. Even though the admins likely were trying to delay their death for a while, it was bound to happen at some point. She just hoped they'd be done before such thing happened.

"Azalea, are you okay?"

She looked away from the window. It was Thioro, he had leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "What?"

"You look pale. Worried?"

Azalea's eyes darted to a side. Not too far from Thioro, Matthew and Elaine were sitting. Elaine was hugging her legs, her chin on her knees, conversing softly with Matthew. The engineer didn't seem worried at all, he was cross-legged beside her, he wasn't even glancing at Azalea. It was as he admitting his crime to her wasn't anything he was remotely concerned about. _I can't let him get away with this, but why did he tell me?_ She knew there must have been a reason, and she didn't want to play along whatever it was. "I just have a lot in my mind" she admitted.

Thioro nodded, solemn. "I know. The prospect of death's terrifying" he said. "Take it from me, Azalea, I died once, it's...it's like falling asleep"

"You literally didn't die. Also, you got your head cracked and then you got shot with a crossbow"

"Good point, but—"

"And according to what Kamiya said, I doubt we'll have a peaceful death"

The detective frowned. "Okay. I was trying to calm you down, but I'm not that good at that. I won't lie, I'm pretty worried myself. You're not alone, Azalea"

"How are we even going to tell everybody we'll die?"

"I told you we shouldn't. It'll cause unnecessary panic. That's better kept unsaid" _I agree._

Was it right to hide it? She sure didn't know. All she knew was that, unless a miracle happened, their doom was certain.

But the trial that was now coming had to be their priority. For everyone's sake. _Focus on one thing at the time. That's what we'll do._


	38. Chapter 5: Prelude V

"Okay, where should we start?"

"I don't think we know anything. We don't even know where she died"

"Or when"

"If I can suggest something, I believe our best starting point is the murder weapon"

"The hatchet Kamiya had?"

"What hatchet?"

"I saw Kamiya with a hatchet, he was—"

"Azalea?"

Azalea jumped, startled. She had been staring at her hands, noticing she was really pale. It was a reminder she was dying and, now that she looked at everyone attentively, she wasn't the only one with an unhealthy look. Everyone else was also kind of pale, she could see a couple were sweating. She felt like her head was full of sawdust, she shook her head, trying to clear it. "Sorry, I was distracted"

"We were discussing how to start the trial"

Once the train had arrived to the station, everybody descended, going towards the courtroom, and got onto the podiums. Monobear was there but he didn't say anything, he just sat on the throne without even moving. It felt like he was there, but for some reason was unable to direct the proceedings. The admins were the ones who got the trial going, they even spared them from Monobear's usual starting speech. All the hostages started discussing the case, it took them a moment to notice Azalea was silent.

"Oh. Sorry, I was spacing out" she mumbled.

"Any ideas on how to start the trial?" Lucien asked. Azalea rubbed her eyelids, sighing.

"How about we discuss what happened, in the first place? That'll be a good starting point"

The hostages agreed – if only so the discussion could go somewhere. Dalia was the one who took the lead. "We all gathered at the diner to discuss all the clues we had. Kouma was the one who called us"

"I don't think anything we found is related to the murder, so let's not talk about that much" Matthew said. Behind him, Monobear seemed to lean forward with interest. Hoping to hear more about that topic, perhaps?

"We decided to take a break before continuing, and Kouma got a cake for us" Elaine said.

"We fell asleep shortly afterwards because of...something" Dalia said. "I'm not sure yet what it was, but it made quick work on us"

Thioro nodded. "When we woke up Kouma was already dead. Obviously Kouma died during that time"

"There are no witnesses, so we have to rely on our evidence only" Kamiya noted. "We can—"

"By the way, Kamiya is the killer" Matthew said, carefree, as if he hadn't just accused someone else from committing a rather horrible murder. The reactions were rather subdued – for good reason. By now they knew they couldn't take the accusations without a thorough discussion. Elaine clutched her hands, not having expected Matthew to accuse anyone.

"Uh...you have a reason to say that, right?" Dalia asked, cautious.

"After we woke up, I searched around to see if we'd find the—the rest of Kouma" he said. H _e's good at keeping appearance.s_ Despite he being the real killer and having done the rather cruel actions that followed the murder, he managed to sound frightened and hesitant to speak. It was repulsive "I found Kamiya behind the door and he was holding a hatchet – the hatchet that cut Kouma apart!"

 _So this is how this will go._ Matthew had set the rhythm of the trial. Right away he was directing how it'd go. All Azalea could do right now was play along and see where things led, while defending Kamiya and ensuring the trial wouldn't end prematurely. With a heavy heart, she listened to the debate that was starting.

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Box of Items / Soda Bottles / Hatchet / Injector / Dismemberment_

* * *

MATTHEW: Kamiya **had the hatchet in his hand**

LUCIEN: Couldn't it have been planted?

KAMIYA: That's precisely what happened.

KAMIYA: I had **_never seen that hatchet_** before.

THIORO: Kamiya says he was left unconscious.

THIORO: It's plausible the hatchet was planted in his hand.

LUCIEN: It's also plausible **he took it from the kitchen**.

ELAINE: Lucien is right.

ELAINE: The kitchen has all kinds of tools. It could have been there.

MATTHEW: Once we all were knocked out...

MATTHEW: ...he went and **killed Kouma with that hatchet**!

THIORO: That'd be the simple explanation, I guess.

* * *

"Simple explanations sometimes aren't the right ones" Azalea said "Kamiya can't have taken that hatchet from the kitchen"

"It looks like something a butcher would use. If you ask me—" Lucien tried to defend his logic, but it could be so easily disproven Azalea didn't even let him finish.

"Actually, it's from the armory. Nobody would have found anything like it in the kitchen"

"He could have brought it in advance. He may have planned this all along and left the hatchet in the kitchen or somewhere else" Elaine said.

Lucien considered that for a moment. "That's probable. He didn't want to cause any alarm by carrying that thing around, so he hid it and waited for the right moment before he took it out of wherever he stashed it"

"If he wasn't trying to cause any alarm then he did a pretty lousy job at that" Thioro said, the biologist huffing and crossing his arms.

"Fine, I worded that badly. What I mean is that he was trying not to raise any suspicion, he was trying to be inconspicuous"

Azalea smiled a bit, pleased she had found a weak point in that particular argument. Even though she was in no mood to enjoy the trial – as little enjoyment as she could get from it, anyway – she still liked the feeling of being able to defeat other people's arguments. "If he was trying to not give any reason to suspect him, then he should have avoided this:

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Missing Kamiya**

* * *

"Do any of you remember Kamiya at any time?"

"No. Who knows where he was" Elaine said.

Azalea laid her elbow on her podium, resting her chin on her palm. "If he was trying to make us not realize something was off, then he'd have stayed with us instead of being missing all the time. Or did any of you see Kamiya during the meeting?"

"I didn't..." Dalia admitted.

"It'd be hard to miss him. The gas mask and the lab coat are unmistakable" Thioro said. Matthew stuck his hands in his pockets, not very happy about this.

"...I saw him in the kitchen, remember I told you that?"

"That doesn't change anything!" Elaine insisted "Kamiya is still a potential culprit. We can't know what he was thinking. All we can rely on is the evidence"

"The evidence against him is rather weak, though" the detective pointed out.

"All you have that defends him is his word. Unless he can back it up with hard proof, we can't take his word as the truth"

 _Do we have anything that can defend Kamiya?_ None of the clues they found seemed right for that, any the interpretations she could think didn't particularly make him look innocent. If she couldn't use concrete evidence, then she had to link together proof and reasoning to make it seem less likely Kamiya was the person they should vote for.

"Now that I think about it, Kamiya would be able to drug us all at once, right?" Dalia said. "He's a pharmacist, he'd be able to get stuff and mix it together to drug everybody"

Thioro nodded, admitting that. "But it depends on what was used. Nobody found what was used for this" the way he worded that didn't go unnoticed to Azalea. If he was avoiding the reveal the gas was chloroform, then she should follow his example. He knew what he was doing, she should do the same, given they had the same objective.

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Videocamera / Hatchet / Dismemberment / Injector / Anesthetic Gas_

* * *

THIORO: If we look for what all of us had in common...

THIORO: ...we should be able to find out how we all fainted at once.

DALIA: The cake, of course.

DALIA: We all ate **_a slice of cake_**.

MATTHEW: There's also **_the soda_**.

LUCIEN: It doesn't have to be through food.

LUCIEN: It could have been through some other way such as...

LUCIEN: ... ** _the air_**...

LUCIEN: ...or **_some object_** in the place we were at.

ELAINE: It all depends on what form the drug had.

THIORO: That means we're not going to find out?

THIORO: Screw it, we can't waste our time arguing about this for long.

* * *

"It's not so difficult. If you think back to what happened, you'll remember a weird mist coming out of the ventilation. That's what happened, we breathed that gas and fell asleep"

Lucien touched gingerly the tip of the hook on his clothes, looking around with some confusion. "I don't remember what happened. When I try to think I get an intense headache"

"Do we know what that gas was made of?" Matthew asked. That question seemed to get a couple other hostages interested on that topic, Elaine punctuated her thoughts with a finger.

"That would be useful information. If we know what was used, we could find out something about the culprit. Did anyone find evidence about how the gas was made?" _How much should I tell...?_ If she said too much, then she'd risk telling everyone how they were all about to die. Despair and terror would fill the room; she couldn't let that happen! On the other hand, she had to say something. Any bit of evidence could be useful. There was something she could say without giving away too much, perhaps?

Azalea bit her thumb, thinking carefully for a moment. "I think I found something"

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Glass Vials**

* * *

"I found a few glass vials taped onto the exhaust chimney in the kitchen. If I had to guess, the gas came from there"

"Any hint about what was in there?" Matthew asked. Trying to refrain from glaring at him, Azalea shook her head.

"Not even a bit. I think whatever it was may have been a liquid first, and then it turned into a gas so it'd spread all over the diner"

"That'd need a heat source" Lucien said, rather accurately "If it was taped to the exhaust hood, then there's no heat source. It's not like the killer stood there "

Azalea nodded. She was glad she had investigated the kitchen, answering questions like these would be really easy thanks to that.

"There was a heat source, right there in the kitchen. The culprit could have set up easily the kitchen by using this object to heat up the vials:"

* * *

 _Stove_

 _Fridge_

 _Exhaust hood_

 _Soda bottles_

* * *

 ** _Stove_**

* * *

"The stove was enough to heat up the vials" Azalea explained, moving her hand slowly up and down in the air so everybody could see "The exhaust hood I found the vials in can be moved vertically. If it's left close enough to the stove—"

"—then the heat from the stove would reach the vials?" Elaine tried to confirm if her train of thought had led her correctly.

"Exactly!"

"That'd depend on the substance. The exhaust hood can't get that close to the stove and I'm not sure some heated air would be enough to affect most substances" Lucien said. "If we don't know what's in those vials we can't say that's what happened"

Thioro tried to stop this line of discussion before it led to dangerous territory. "We may not know but it's not like we have better options, do we?"

"We can't just say these vials did it if we don't have—"

"We were all there! There was gas coming out of the vents. The vials can't be a coincidence. Let's just move on, okay?" the detective glanced at Azalea, nodding slightly. _Thanks for the support!_ She tried to say with her eyes. Azalea had just opened her mouth to lead the discussion into another direction when the voice she wanted to hear the least said something with a lot of venom:

"A pharmacist would know what substances to use, wouldn't he?"

Matthew said that with vitriol, it was an outright accusation without any mercy, unlike the one Matthew had done near the start of the trial. Everyone turned their heads towards Kamiya, the engineer's words were obviously pointing at him.

"Elaine told me a theory she had, too. I think we should listen to her"

"Thank you, brother" Elaine looked at everyone sternly, her glasses shining proudly. "I have an argument that points at Kamiya. Listen to my thoughts, everyone"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

Pool of Blood / Locked Diner / Lazarus Formula #2 / Injector / Lazarus Formula #1

* * *

ELAINE: It's pretty obvious we got knocked out **_with those vials_**...

ELAINE: ...but is that all they did?

DALIA: What do you mean?

ELAINE: That gas...

ELAINE: ...is also **what killed Kouma**.

THIORO: That's quite the guess.

THIORO: I suppose you have a reason to think that?

ELAINE: Many poisons and substances can kill someone...

ELAINE: ...through overexposure.

KAMIYA: Wait a second, that doesn't make any sense!

KAMIYA: Everyone got exposed the same amount.

ELAINE: Not if she approached the source of the gas:

ELAINE: **The kitchen**!

DALIA: I...uh...I'm...

DALIA: ...I'm not sure if I understood...

DALIA: ...but I guess it's possible?

* * *

"I'm not sure the gas killed Kouma. If it had been that, we'd all be dead"

"There's no other cause of death. The gas is the only option"

"No, I think what actually killed him was the formula Thioro, Matthew and I mentioned to you all"

Elaine was skeptic. "Really? Do you think it was that?"

"I can't prove it conclusively, but it's more likely it was that instead of the gas. If it had been the gas, all of us would be dead right now, seriously" Azalea insisted, her face tense. It was hard to say such things when everybody was in the same mortal and imminent danger. Elaine puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms and glaring at Azalea as if she was a random stranger she had no appreciation for.

"If you have no definite proof then we may be wasting time here"

Azalea cringed, she didn't like Elaine was being so cold towards her. "It's not proof of the cause of death, but I have proof the killer tried to hide the real cause of death from us"

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Dismemberment**

* * *

"I believe the reason why Kouma was hacked into pieces was so we wouldn't know the real cause of death"

"If we found her tore apart we wouldn't think she was poisoned, would we?" Thioro agreed.

"Exactly! That must also be why most of the body's missing"

Dalia made a face of disgust. "They had to leave enough we'd think she was stabbed with the hatchet or something, right?"

"I think so, but they also got rid of the rest so we wouldn't be able to examine it. Maybe there'd be some sort of hint on the body that'd show the formula's the real murder weapon"

Lucien crinkled his brow. He didn't mean to burst Azalea's bubble, but he had to do it anyway, for all of their sakes. "I don't know, Azalea, that's hard to believe without proof"

"I'm aware of that, I just—"

"Even if Kouma was poisoned, it could have been anything! You can't prove it was with that thing you had found"

"Isn't it supposed to cause death in five minutes or so?" Kamiya tried to remember "I'm pretty sure you mentioned that"

"That's only if the formula is injected into the bloodstream" Elaine reminded him, taking out her notes to take a good look at everything she had written about the events of the meeting. _Wait, that's it!_

Azalea hurried to try to give a rebuttal to that. "I know! I think I have something that can back up my theory" She wasn't sure if she'd be right or not, but what she needed to do right now was steer people towards thinking the Lazarus concoction had been the weapon of the crime. After all, only three people would be able to use such a thing to kill: the three that had found it and knew what it did. If she could tie the formula to the crime, then she could use that as the starting point to nail Matthew as the culprit, fair and square!

 _I need to tie the formula to the murder no matter what. There must be something I can use, even if it's not decisive at all!_

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Vomit**

* * *

"When the formula is injected, there's no signs it happened, but when it's ingested, it has different effects on the body before death comes"

"We don't have the body, Azalea" Kamiya said patiently. He had a feeling she was trying to get somewhere else with this. Indeed, Azalea acknowledged his objection.

"It's not on the body. One of the signs is nausea and the possibility the victims throws up their lunch. That's what happened with Kouma, that's why I say she was poisoned with the Lazarus formula!"

Elaine didn't bother to disguise how Azalea's argument didn't convince her at all. "There was none of that at the diner. That means you're wrong, doesn't it?"

"We did find some vomit near the cottages" Dalia said.

"You can't say for sure Kouma left that – in fact, it must have been there for a long while already because, in case you forgot..." Elaine pushed her glasses up her nose "...we were all locked at the diner. Kouma can't have left the building to go puke near the cottages"

"If nobody here says they did that over there, then Kouma's the only option left" Azalea asserted "Right, guys? Did any of you throw up near a cottage?" Nobody said anything. Feeling that helped to make her case, Azalea hurried to take that as confirmation. "See? Nobody's admitting responsibility"

"You can't just ask them that and expect someone to admit it! It's gross" Elaine said with disapproval.

Azalea slammed her podium with a hand. "Our _lives_ are at risk here! If anyone here had done that, they'd admit it now no matter how embarrassing it may be!"

"Um, if we're thinking about substances that may have been used..." Matthew's voice was unwelcome for Azalea. All she could do was watch while he took out a book. "I went to the library to search for stuff that may have knocked us and I found something I think can explain what poisoned Kouma – if that's what happened"

"Wait—"

"What did you find?" Lucien expressed interest, cutting Azalea off. Matthew opened the book, the lens over his eye extending and examining the pages while he searched for a specific one.

"If she was poisoned, I think it may have been with chloroform" he said, following a few lines with a finger. "It even fits what Azalea just said because one of the symptoms is nausea"

"Again, we all were locked in the diner" Elaine insisted.

"I know; I'm just raising the possibility!"

Thioro decided to intervene. As he saw it, Matthew's theory was getting into dangerous territory. "Azalea's proposal is reasonable. I think it has merit and we should listen to it. I was with her when we discovered the formula, I know what it's capable of. It's _plausible_ "

Although Thioro supported Azalea, they were unable to get others to agree. Nobody was willing to believe that – something Azalea didn't really blame them for. Why should they take their word for it when they had no decisive proof? It didn't make it any less frustrating, though.

Seeing his chance to attack, Matthew continued: "What's more likely? That chloroform was used – something that can be obtained from the pharmacy, I guess, by anyone – or a liquid that's locked away in Monobear's office?"

"You think the vials had chloroform?" Dalia asked.

"Maybe they did. What do you think, Kamiya?" he gave a pointed look at the man with the gas mask, who stayed silent. Confirming that would put him in a tough spot, denying it had no guarantee it'd work. Subtly, Kamiya glanced at Azalea and Thioro, who seemed just as nervous as he was.

"I dunno"

"You don't know?!" Matthew sounded outraged, as if he didn't believe that lie at all "I think if there's anyone who knows it'd be you!"

"I just said I don't know!" _This is going pear-shaped. I have to lead this discussion somewhere else!_ Maybe she could use Matthew's points to her advantage? She had to try before Matthew accidentally or on purpose made everyone be aware they were on borrowed time.

"Let's suppose Kouma was poisoned with _something_. We don't know what it is, but she was poisoned" she said.

Thioro caught on what she was trying to do. "That's true. In that case, we should try to deduce _how_ Kouma was poisoned. We may be able to get something out of that"

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

Slices of Cake / Anesthetic Gas / Pool of Blood / Dismemberment / Lazarus Formula #1

* * *

THIORO: If Kouma was poisoned we must find out how

THIORO: Before any of you says a thing...

THIORO: ...I don't think it was **_the gas_**

ELAINE: The gas must have been chloroform, you know

DALIA: What if the poison was in **_the food_**?

LUCIEN: We all ate the same food

LUCIEN: If it had been there, we'd have been all poisoned

ELAINE: Seriously, I think it was the gas

MATTHEW: She could have been **_injected_** directly!

ELAINE: We'd have found a syringe somewhere!

THIORO: I guess for fairness' sake...

THIORO: ...we can also suppose **_Azalea is wrong_**

KAMIYA: Way to throw her under the bus!

THIORO: It's for fairness' sake!

* * *

 _I have no doubts she was poisoned through a method other than the air._ If she associated the bunch of vomit with the poisoning with Lazarus Formula, there was only one possibility. "She must have ingested the poison"

"I just said we all ate the same food! Where do you think the poison was if only she died from it?" Lucien challenged, exasperated. Dalia put a finger to her chin, thinking.

"Maybe in the soda? A liquid poison would have been easily disguised in there"

"Impossible" Thioro said "We all drank from the same bottles. If the poison had been there we'd all be dead"

"Then maybe it already was in her cup?" Elaine proposed, her nose buried deep into her many notes. Matthew was the one to counter that with ease.

"Whoever served them would have noticed some substance inside the cup!"

His intervention wasn't welcome to Azalea. If she ever let him intervene, then he could try to steer the discussion towards the points that are convenient to him. She had to wrestle control back right now! "I'm pretty sure it was in the cake. Remember how it was sliced in individual pieces? The killer may have slipped the poison in Kouma's slice at some point"

"Yes, that's right! I think we're onto something here" Kamiya encouraged "Let's think about it. Who touched what?"

"Matthew brought the soda from the kitchen. We already said the poison wasn't in it, so that clears him" Elaine said, a note of relief in her voice. Anything that helped the one person she trusted was good. _Damn it!_ Azalea thought.

"Kouma handled the cake. She can't have poisoned herself, so..." Dalia started. She had been about to say they had missed something when Kamiya shouted, snapping his fingers.

 **I FIGURED IT OUT!**

Azalea hoped whatever thought that crossed Kamiya's mind was accurate. He was a clever man, but he also was unconscious during most of the incident. With some luck the same malice that led him to be Khotso's accomplice during the second murder would lead him in the right direction. "What is it?" she asked him.

Kamiya seemed glad he had the chance to explain his reasoning. "The killer must have tampered with the cake beforehand"

It was simple enough reasoning, but unfortunately it was mistaken. "No, I don't think so. I think the killer tampered with the cake after it had been sliced" _I'm pretty sure I'm right, so all I have to do is prove my point!_

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Dismemberment / Kitchen Content / Lack of Blood / Missing Kamiya / Soda Bottles_

* * *

KAMIYA: My theory is that the killer didn't care who was the victim

KAMIYA: All they wanted was a death

KAMIYA: That's why before our reunion...

KAMIYA: ...the killer must have poisoned some of the cake

KAMIYA: Kouma simply had the bad luck...

KAMIYA: ...of getting the part of the cake that was poisoned

KAMIYA: It'd make more sense than if someone targeted her

KAMIYA: It'd solve why there seemingly was no motive...

KAMIYA: ...to want her dead!

AZALEA: Everything lies on your point...

AZALEA: ...about the cake being poisoned beforehand

AZALEA: Are you sure about that?

KAMIYA: It was the best chance anyone had...

KAMIYA: ...to poison the cake.

KAMIYA: **The kitchen** is open to everyone.

KAMIYA: All they'd have to do...

KAMIYA: ...is enter and put the poison in

KAMIYA: We know **the soda wasn't poisoned.**

KAMYA: The cake is **our only option**!

* * *

While he was right the cake was the only option, he still was wrong about the timing of the poisoning. "You think the cake was in the kitchen at all times, right?"

"Of course. It's the diner, there'd be food in there – including cake"

"You'd think that, but that's wrong. When I checked the diner today during the investigation, there was no food in there – food that could be eaten immediately, that is. Everything I found was frozen and uncooked"

"Oh" Kamiya's gas mask lenses fogged up "I see. Frozen cake isn't really something that's done, is it."

"Let's suppose for argument's sake the cake was frozen. If it had been tampered with, Kouma would have noticed it when she went to prepare it for everyone. She must have gotten the cake from somewhere else and brought it to us. Maybe she prepared it herself, for all we know – and if any ingredients had been poisoned, we'd all be sick. That can't be right either"

"Then that means if the cake was poisoned it can only have happened after the cake was brought and sliced" Dalia said.

"We don't know yet if Kamiya was aiming to kill her or not" Matthew said, not bothering to disguise the accusatory tone in his voice, the pharmacist reacting immediately.

"I said I'm not the killer. I was knocked out—"

"I think you're wrong, brother" Elaine said, finally looking up from what she was doing. "I don't think Kamiya is the killer"

"What? Why not?! You were saying too he was the culprit!" Matthew sounded surprised, looking at her with intrigue. Everyone else did the same, unsure where she was going with this.

The writer shrugged. "There's no big mystery here, I think Kamiya's not the suspect we should consider. There's someone else who had the chance to poison Kouma and hasn't been even mentioned yet" she turned her notes around so everyone could see them. Her writing was so small nobody could read them from their podiums. Thankfully, Elaine explained. "I took notes during the meeting. Just a few things here and there. I wrote who sat where, in case something like the murder happened. If we think Kouma was poisoned then the people near her are suspects, right?"

"That makes sense" Thioro agreed.

"There was only one person near Kouma at all times" Elaine stopped, doubt crossing her face, but she had made her mind when she started speaking. She had to finish her accusation. "The person who had the best chance to poison Kouma was...

...it was Azalea"

 _Oh. Shit!_ Elaine was right. At all times Azalea had been the only one who was with Kouma. They sat at the same table, ate cake together...technically, if there was someone who had the chance to poison Kouma, it was Azalea. She had to admit that. With some luck there was no other proof that'd point at her, but what if there was more?

Something in Azalea's face must have shown her alarm, because the other Hostages seemed worried about her reaction. Elaine, still looking at her, continued: "She also was the one to cut the slices – once another chance to poison one – and she gave everyone their slice – the chance to give Kouma the poisoned slice.

No matter how you spin it it's undeniable Azalea had the chance to poison Kouma"

"...I guess you have a rebuttal?" Lucien asked the new suspect.

"No, I...I don't" she had been completely blindsided by this. That morning, when she woke up with her hands covered with blood, she knew she was going to get accused for someone's death. It gave her time to get prepared and have an inkling of how she could defend herself. This was different. Getting in the way of her half-baked plan to lead towards Matthew, there came Elaine, accusing her. What was she supposed to say? She didn't have a rebuttal! "Elaine, do you really think I did it?!"

Elaine didn't reply at first. She looked down at her notes, her glasses hiding her eyes. "...I'm following the logic. I'm...I'm sorry, Azalea, I really am. But if I'm going to be betrayed again then I hope I'd see it coming this time" she looked up. She seemed to have made her mind. "I think you're the killer"

"I'm not the killer" Azalea said. She almost wanted to outright accuse Matthew, but she still didn't have the proof for that. Now that the spotlight was on her, making a mistake would look like she was trying to deflect the attention. Biting the tip of her tongue and trying to stay calm, she looked at Matthew, who was careful not to make any particular expression. Was he surprised about Elaine's intervention? Had he planned this too? Was this his way to ensure she wouldn't be able to turn the heat on him?

She was inclined to think he had at least nudged Elaine towards this somehow.

Azalea could use her "persuasion" skill to make everyone stop bothering her and focus on Matthew once and for all, but she still refused to do it. She had a bad feeling about that. It was like her gut was telling her that, if she yielded to that tempting option, things would take a very bad turn. Her only remaining option was to fight the accusation and turn everything against Matthew...somehow.

She had no idea how, but she had to do it.


	39. Chapter 5: Prelude VI

Although Azalea wasn't sure where to start countering the accusation against her, the one certainty she had was that doing nothing would only lead to their collective doom. She had to find an avenue of attack right now! Even if it was almost useless. What mattered is that she could take some of the heat off her for a moment, gain some time to think and organize her thoughts.

"I don't wanna think Azalea's the killer" Dalia said "There must be something we're missing"

"I don't like it more than you but it's a possibility. Elaine brought up some good points" Lucien said. "What do you think about your sister's theory, Matthew? Is it more likely than Kamiya being the killer?"

Matthew thought for a moment, shaking his head with hesitation. "No. I still think Kamiya did it, but I can't think of any way to defeat Elaine's theory"

Thioro glanced at Azalea. There was no trace of suspicion in his eyes, but Azalea felt nervous nonetheless. "Let's discuss Elaine's theory a bit more, see where it takes us. Elaine?"

"I think Azalea poisoned Kouma with something, and then once we were all asleep, she chopped Kouma up"

"How did she avoid getting knocked out by the gas?"

"If Kamiya and Azalea worked together that'd explain it!" Matthew said "That'd make both of our theories true"

Elaine pursed her lips in thought, she wasn't convinced both of the theories were true at once. "I don't know how she stayed awake" _Ah, an opening!_ While Matthew did try to fill that hole in her reasoning, it was a stretch. If she could take advantage of that weakness to rush and try to find others, she would be okay.

"Elaine, can you summarize what you think happened? Just to know what you already formed in your theory" she requested. Elaine didn't seem very happy about being prompted by her suspect, but it wasn't like she could refuse.

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Monobear File #5 / Pool of Blood / Missing Kamiya / Locked Diner / Box of Items_

* * *

ELAINE: Azalea poisoned Kouma's cake with an **unidentified substance**

THIORO: How did she avoid fainting?

ELAINE: I don't know

ELAINE: Azalea used **the hatchet**...

ELAINE: ...to chop Kouma **once she was dead**...

ELAINE: ...right there **in middle of the diner**

THIORO: Where did she take the pieces of the body?

ELAINE: They may have been **hidden inside the diner**

ELAINE: Like in the air vents

ELAINE: The place smelled like blood when we woke up

DALIA: Uh...it doesn't seem like you thought this through?

LUCIEN: But it's a theory. We have to consider it

* * *

It was a relief Elaine's theory wasn't as solid as it should have been. It didn't make it any less dangerous, but at least she found out she had some breathing space. Things could be worse than they were right now. "The one thing you seem to be sure about is that I used the hatchet inside the diner, right?"

"Pretty much" Elaine admitted begrudgingly. Azalea hurried to continue.

"Kouma wasn't chopped inside the diner! Turns out Dalia and Lucien found a lot of blood in the cottage area. That means someone bled a lot there – maybe someone who was getting her limbs separated from the rest of the body?"

Dalia cringed at that way of describing what happened. "Gross! But then that was where that awful thing happened to Kouma?"

"Exactly. I think Kouma's body was chopped there—"

"Does that change much?!" Elaine shouted. "You still could have done it!"

"There's a very big problem with that theory. We're both missing something because of this:"

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Locked Diner**

* * *

"The entire diner was locked. I couldn't have left it. The building was a locked room"

"But it's undeniable Kouma was killed outside the diner!"

Azalea nodded. That was the conclusion she hoped they'd reach. "That's true. If I had to guess, Kouma's the one who broke the diner open. Maybe that even saved her from fainting, that she managed to open it and get some fresh air in time"

"...sleeping gas doesn't work like that, Azalea" Thioro said.

"I know, I'm just theorizing!" there was no way to know for sure what happened, but that was where logic guided her to "My point is that Kouma was the one to open the door of the diner by force. Nobody else but the killer left the diner, though. That means everyone else by then was unconscious, including myself"

Lucien stared at Azalea carefully until he said: "I think I see where you're going with this: the culprit would have needed a way to keep themselves safe from the gas. Is that it?"

"Pretty much"

"And you didn't have anything like that"

"Couldn't she just hold her breath?" Matthew wondered.

"For that long? That's impossible. No, I _think_ that's impossible"

Azalea's expression soured. "Do you really think I could have spared myself the gas?"

"Um..." Dalia uttered, very hesitant "I'm not entirely sure, but I think I saw Azalea faint?"

"Really?"

"I-I-I can't say for sure because I was groggy, but I think I saw that. I dunno if you can take my word for it..."

Despite her hesitation, Azalea was very grateful Dalia tried to defend her. It was flimsy and wasn't admissible as evidence of any type, but it could be enough to give her some breathing space! Azalea decided to take a bit more of an aggressive stance towards her accusers. Gripping her podium and leaning forward to try to impose herself onto Elaine and Matthew, she glared at them. "If any of you have any proof or evidence about how I supposedly kept myself from being affected by sleeping gas, then show it, go ahead!"

"Aaaagh...no, this can't be..." Elaine looked away, sweeping sweat with the sleeve of her red sweater. It seemed that, for now, Elaine's reasoning had reached a dead end. How to continue, though...

Dalia tried to continue with the debate. "There's something I don't get about all this..."

"What's it?" Kamiya asked her.

"If Azalea was going to poison Kouma then why did she stay with her all the time?" she said "Anyone would try to get as far away from the victim, right?"

"It was so she could be sure Kouma would get poisoned" Elaine said, Kamiya shaking his head.

"Dalia is right. Azalea would be taking too big of a risk by staying with Kouma all the time. Something's off here about your accusation"

Elaine frowned. "You're not thinking about accusing _me_ , are you?"

"Of course not. I don't think you're the killer, but I do think you're trying to force things to go in this direction"

Azalea tapped her fingers against her arm, thinking. Why would the killer target Kouma? That's what she didn't understand. Kouma wasn't particularly threatening nor active. True, she did try to take the leadership mantle now that Vittoria was gone and Azalea didn't want it, and although she had done good effort and seemed to be at least halfway competent, it was unlikely she was going to be a threat for anyone. The only reason she could think right now..." Maybe she was targeted because I was near her. The killer may have planned all along to blame me for this death"

"Wouldn't that make Elaine over there the culprit?" Lucien said, unsubtly staring at the writer. Azalea's eyes darted at Matthew, she took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

"N-No, I don't think she's the killer. There's no proof she's even involved in any way"

"But she's the only person who has accused you" Thioro said.

"I know, I just...don't think she's the killer" _Matthew must have made her accuse me so he wouldn't look suspicious if he did. I can't let him run circles around me!_

Thioro rubbed the tip of his tie with his fingertips, staring at Elaine intensely, until... "I think I have an idea. Maybe Kouma wasn't the killer's target"

"What?"

"Now that's a theory!" Lucien shouted with feigned enthusiasm "How do you even poison the wrong person? You can't say it was an accident or something!"

"I think the killer may have tried to kill somebody else, but Kouma ate the poisoned cake by accident"

Azalea frowned. "That's impossible. I gave Kouma her slice, she didn't take someone else's slice or anything like that"

"Really? Do you realize that if there was no accident, you're the prime suspect and therefore our target?" the detective asked leadingly. A bit taken aback, Azalea swallowed. _Is he trying to throw me a lifeline?_ Was he making an argument simply for the sake of buying her time to think of some alternate manner to find the truth, or did he really think Kouma could have taken the heat for someone else? She wasn't sure where this was supposed to go, but rejecting Thioro's theory would lead to her being on the chopping block, so...

"No. I think you're onto something here" Azalea said, deciding to let things follow the current path and see where it took them "It's weird Kouma would get targeted, so let's see what we can get from that"

"The person who gave her the slice was..." Dalia started, her sentence being finished by Elaine.

"Azalea did. I saw her give everybody their slices" she explained "She separated hers, put the rest on a tray and went around giving everyone their slice" _...huh?_

"If Azalea is the killer and she planned to kill someone who wasn't Kouma it's impossible she'd miss. Kouma didn't trade slices with anyone, did she?" Kamiya asked. Thioro shook his head.

"I don't remember she doing that"

"If the killer poisoned a slice beforehand and wasn't able to distribute them, then it's plausible Azalea didn't give it to the person the killer intended" Lucien said "In that case, we have to—"

"We're overthinking this!" Matthew talked over him.

"I know we may be overthinking this, but we're going to get in a standstill if we stop now!"

"You're wasting your time, there's not a single person who could have been the target!"

"...that's wrong" Azalea said mutedly. Her clammy hands were curled into fists, she felt goosebumps that possibly weren't related to the chloroform overdose coursing through her body. "I think...I think there was...another person the killer may have been aiming for"

Elaine scoffed. "Really? Come on, Azalea, the only people who handled that cake were Kouma and you! Do you think Kouma poisoned a slice and accidentally killed herself?!"

"No, that's not it! I see now, Kouma really wasn't the target, it's like Thioro was saying!" she said, the detective's lips a thin line, something she interpreted as he not being surprised by the confirmation.

"How do you think that happened, then? I sure don't see it!"

"I think to be able to aim for a concrete target need a slice that's different from the rest in some way. That way you either know your target picked that slice, or you can make sure a person receives the slice you want" she wasn't sure she worded things correctly, so she summarized her thought: "What I mean is that you need a slice that's different from the others in some manner"

"You gave the slices around, Azalea" Kamiya reminded her, as if she randomly had forgotten that important fact "Was any of the slices you gave around important in some way?"

By now she had realized the real target. Answering that wasn't any problem at all. "In fact..."

* * *

 _Yes_

 _No_

* * *

 ** _No_**

* * *

"No. None of the slices I gave around was different in any way"

Elaine threw her hands in the air, exasperated at the answer. "I knew it! There wasn't any slice that was different from the others!"

"I didn't say that. I said none of the slices I gave around was different. I'm sure none were tampered with"

With that, the writer blanched, heaved forward dryly for a moment, much to everyone's worry, and hoarsely tried to continue: "That doesn't make any sense. You gave everybody a slice, nobody else..." her eyes widened with realization once she finally caught on what Azalea was being so roundabout about. She couldn't blame her for hesitating so much to say it.

"I'm...I'm pretty sure the target – the killer's target actually was this person!"

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Azalea Stravopoulos**

* * *

"The killer actually intended to kill me. Kouma was...she wasn't the target. It was me"

It did make more sense to want to get rid of Azalea, in everyone's opinion. There were many possible reasons. She worked hard during the trials, she was a potential leader, she was one of the few likely to find out who the criminals are - there were plenty of reasons. The thought someone wanted to kill her wasn't surprising, judging by the lack of surprise about her statement. "Gee, guys. Thanks a lot for the love. You sure know how to make a girl feel special" Azalea said, a bit annoyed.

"No, it's just that it does make sense. Killing you would make a lot of things easier" Kamiya said.

"You're not helping"

"You know what I mean!"

"Kouma was sitting with Azalea all the time, it's possible the killer got their slices mixed up!" Dalia said, glad her belief Azalea was innocent was likely to be correct.

"That's impossible" Elaine said. She bit her thumbnail, actually looking upset Azalea was the intended target of a murder plan. "Azalea put her slice aside on a different plate before she went to give everybody else their slice, a killer can't have gotten them mixed up"

"That's a good point!" Matthew agreed "I think she's using this to get the heat off her!"

"Looks like it's going to take more than this to convince them, Azalea" Thioro said, making sure his tie was tight and nice "Don't worry, some of us got your back. Let's do it" _It shouldn't be too difficult. I know I'm most likely right, I just need to make them consider I was the real target of this murder!_

* * *

 **Scrum Debate**

* * *

AZALEA: Sleeping Gas

AZALEA: Food

AZALEA: Suspect

THIORO: Azalea

THIORO: Cake Slices

DALIA: Kouma

LUCIEN: Plan

* * *

KAMIYA: A killer can't have gotten the **cake slices** mixed up

THIORO: They didn't. They knew which slice they were aiming for.

KAMIYA: Other than Azalea, nobody approached the **food**

AZALEA: Kouma and Matthew also got near the food!

ELAINE: Why wouldn't the killer murder her after the **sleeping gas**?

AZALEA: We already know something went wrong with Kouma because she didn't faint because of the gas

MATTHEW: There was no reason to dismember **Kouma**

DALIA: What if the killer had to hide she was killed by poison?

MATTHEW: Why to go through the entire **plan** with Kouma?

LUCIEN: The plan failed. They must have needed to improvise.

MATTHEW: **Azalea** 's just trying to hide her guilt!

THIORO: It's more like the killer is trying to use Azalea as their scapegoat now.

ELAINE: If it's not her, then Kamiya is the only **suspect** , no?

AZALEA: If we continue a while longer, I can propose a new suspect

* * *

Trying to hold off their suspicion was easy. The difficult part was clearing her name once and for all. Right now she couldn't think of a way, and it didn't seem like anyone on her side had any ideas of how to do that either. All they could do was try to keep Matthew and Elaine – and Kamiya to some extent – from leading things further this path.

"I don't believe this, I just don't!" Elaine shouted, shaking her head in denial "It just doesn't fit! Azalea, how couldn't you notice your cake had been poisoned?"

"The killer covered their tracks really well" Azalea said.

"Then you can't say for sure it was poisoned at all" Matthew tried to take advantage of what she had just admitted, but Azalea wasn't going to let that happen.

"I know it was poisoned. It was the only thing that made sense"

Kamiya crossed his arms. "Sounds like you got everything figured out. Mind explaining how you didn't die? It was your slice, after all"

"She must have swapped her slice with Kouma's" Dalia theorized, Lucien not liking that possibility at all.

"If Azalea intentionally swapped the poisoned cake with Kouma's clean slice that makes her a killer"

"It does?" she grimaced "I know it'd be horrible and make her an awful person, but would she be..." _I don't like where this is going. I'll nix this line of thought right now!_

Azalea raised her voice. "That's not what happened! Look, at the time I didn't know it was poisoned. It's only just now that I'm thinking about it that I'm noticing what's going on"

"Azalea..." Dalia wanted to believe her, she really did, but it seemed she needed convincing.

"The poison wasn't all over the cake. It's not like I swapped my slice with her, what happened is, um...it'll be easier if I tell you where exactly in the cake the poison was – because it was on a specific part of the cake:"

* * *

 _The strawberry_

 _The cream_

 _The filling_

 _The cutlery_

* * *

 ** _The strawberry_**

* * *

"The poison was inside the strawberry on my slice"

"Oh? How does that make it possible Kouma ingested the poison that was for you?" Elaine tried to sound biting, but her confrontational attitude was diminishing greatly by now.

"When she and I sat to the table, she took a moment of distraction to take the strawberry off my slice and ate it. That's all that happened, the moment she did that everything was over for her"

Matthew's lens spun in its place, he was finally showing some signs of nervousness. "Wait, really? Kouma died because she stole the strawberry off your piece of cake?!"

"Pretty much. That's how the killer's plan failed" it was almost amazing how Azalea's life was saved because of Kouma's love of strawberries. Azalea felt bad for Kouma, but it wasn't like this was her fault. As callous as it sounded, she was a bit glad she hadn't been the one to die, although she did wonder if Kouma would have been the suspect if Azalea had died.

"So...what now? Does this lead us anywhere?" Kamiya asked.

"He's right. We have made a lot of guesses and supposed a lot of stuff so far, but there's no proof of anything yet" Matthew tried to defuse a situation that was starting to seem more unfavorable for him. "I'm not sure this has led anywhere of use"

"I beg to differ! Now that I have presented a possibility as to where the poison was and why Kouma died instead of me, this does tell us something"

"What is it?" Lucien asked.

"A new suspect"

"That's impossible. There can't be anyone else involved in this case" Elaine stated. Her stare didn't waver, it seemed she didn't suspect at all what Azalea was going to say. _I'm sorry, Elaine, but this has to be done._

"There's one person more. I think we should consider this person's actions in more detail:"

* * *

Azalea Stravopoulos

Kikozou Kamiya

Alistair Sullivan

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Thioro Meziane

Aleksey Seryogin

Joanna Da Silva

Lucien Balboa

Khotso Thobi

Patricio Beltrán

Dalia Roble

Kouma Nana

Matthew McCoy

Vittoria Delacroix

Runihura Acurio

Elaine McCoy

* * *

 **Matthew McCoy**


	40. Chapter 5: Prelude VII

Suggesting someone who until now had been completely unrelated to the murder was the real culprit was unthinkable for most people in the trial room. There had been no indication at all Matthew had been involved in any way. Not only that, Matthew had been trying to accuse someone else and be generally helpful, and now this was casting doubt on all that.

The problem, in Azalea's opinion, was that there wasn't any support for her coming from anyone. Not even Thioro seemed willing to throw his support behind her. Still, as long as they weren't actively undermining her attempt to catch the real killer then everything was okay. "Matthew had the chance and the means to poison the strawberry on my cake. He's the only one other than me and Kouma with such a chance, so let's see if we can find out more about this"

"...I should be glad it's not me" Kamiya murmured, pressing his mask against his face "I'm not a spiteful person but I'd like to be with Azalea on this one"

"You're saying that just because I accused you!" Matthew said, very offended.

"Just saying!"

"Can you two shut up?!" Elaine was furious, she glared at Azalea with intensity, as if she was trying to make her spontaneously combust right on the spot. "You're accusing _my brother_?!"

Azalea thought her words carefully. "I'm not accusing him, I'm just saying he had the opportunity and that's why we should examine his actions"

"That's the same than accusing him. I'm not stupid, Azalea. When you "bring up a possibility", you always end accusing them as the real killer" _It's not my fault they end being guilty!_ Azalea rubbed her temples with her fingertips. She knew this was how Elaine would react, but it didn't make it any less stressful.

"Please, just give us a chance, okay? It's not an accusation, I promise"

A low growl emanated from Elaine's throat. "Don't you dare be condescending to me!" that hadn't been Azalea's intention, but maybe she did come across as condescending. Embarrassed, she looked away. She'd have to be careful with her words or else she'd risk alienating Elaine and everyone else. There was a very uncomfortable silence for a moment before Thioro cleared his throat, eyes closed.

"Azalea, how sure are you about this?"

"Not sure enough to bet my life on it but I want to see where it takes us" she lied, not wanting to reveal too soon indicting Matthew was her plan. "Do you think I'm onto something?"

"I don't know. I can see a problem or two in your logic..."

"I can see several" Lucien commented, getting ignored in the process.

"...so let's try to fill the blanks here. I'll lend you a hand"

 **SHOW ME YOUR LOGIC**

Thioro was taking this with the utmost seriousness, taking everything slowly and carefully. "How much thought have you given this?"

"Plenty" Azalea answered.

"Then let's hear your answer here. We're all relying on you, you know"

* * *

 **Rebuttal Showdown**

* * *

 _Hatchet / Vomit / Soda Bottles / Dismemberment / Kitchen Content_

* * *

THIORO: A murder is all about a motive and chance.

THIORO: The motive isn't so important right now

THIORO: But I'm concerned about the opportunity

THIORO: Did Matthew have a chance to poison your cake?

THIORO: Even if it was just for a second...

THIORO: ...that'll be all the opportunity he or anyone would need.

THIORO: Can you think of anything?

AZALEA: I think I can

AZALEA: It's what makes me suspect him right now.

THIORO: Then let's hear it

THIORO: Because I admit I'm sort of wary about this

THIORO: He'd need **the perfect excuse** to approach your cake

THIORO: Without that, he'd be needlessly suspicious

THIORO: Are you sure about this?

* * *

"He did have an excuse to approach the cake – everyone's cake, even while I was cutting it" Azalea said "Kouma had given us tasks. While I cut the cake, Matthew would bring the soda from the kitchen"

"He did bring a couple bottles. You think then he poisoned the strawberry on your cake slice?" Lucien wondered. Not too far away from him, Dalia frowned.

"Did he pour a bottle of poison on it or something?"

"Not any poison. I still think it was the Lazarus formula" Azalea said. At the mention of the formula, Matthew didn't waste any time and tried to confront them immediately.

"Wait a moment, you don't have anything! All you have is...circumstantial. That's what it is. It doesn't make me the killer!"

"He's right, there's no proof Matthew is a killer" Elaine supported him "I know my brother, he wouldn't harm not even a fly"

"Is there direct proof Matthew poisoned your cake?" the detective asked Azalea, who shook her head after a moment. As much as it pained her to admit, she lacked proof. She didn't even know yet how to obtain that proof. There was the option of sending the administrators to go check the hood over the stove just like Spots had recommended, but would that give them the proof they needed? She wasn't sure about that.

The other option she had right now was examine the evidence she currently had at hand and try to find something new about them. _Now that I think about it, there's something I still need to check further. I should do that right now!_ With some luck it'd hold the evidence she needed.

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Videocamera**

* * *

Runihura's camera had been left on all that time, wasn't it? It was a long shot, but there was a possibility it had recorded something that could be used. Putting the large videocamera on her podium, Azalea flipped on the screen and started examining its contents.

Most of the video was useless. Kouma had placed the camera inside the box and then closed it, all the camera recorded despite the low light visibility functions Thioro had installed was the wood the box was made of. Azalea pressed a button to make the video go quickly, until something else happened. The video shook, the camera tumbling out of the box and landing out of it, the lens pointing in direction of the stadium in the distance. Not long afterwards, a dark pair of legs appeared, shaky but managing to hold the person they belonged to. Kouma. She had gotten out of the diner. The marathoner took a moment to gather her strength and then went away running surprisingly fast despite being groggy because of the gas.

A mere minute later, another person appeared in front of the camera: someone clad with a long white laboratory coat and a gas mask. "Kamiya?!" Azalea uttered, not believing what she was seeing.

"Yes?" Kamiya asked from his podium, not suspecting anything. While Azalea inspected the evidence, everyone else was discussing the merits of suspecting Matthew. Azalea shook her head.

"N-Nothing, I'm just...doing something over here" no way she could show that video or else she risked things going haywire at a moment's notice. First she had to find out exactly what she was going to be showing – was that really Kamiya? Pretty unlikely it was, but there was a chance the video would be taken at face value unless she had an explanation. She couldn't think of anything yet, though.

A few minutes passed without Azalea getting involved in the discussion. "Did she really die because of poison?" Matthew asked them. "I dunno, I'm pretty sure that hasn't proven at all yet"

"It's impossible to prove and you know it. Without a body—" Thioro started, getting cut by the engineer.

"Then you can't even say I could have poisoned her! You don't even know what kind of poison it was!"

"Azalea was saying it could be that Lazarus thing" Dalia said.

"It can't be. It must have been something from the pharmacy, there are dozens of things there that'd be deadly" Elaine insisted, avoiding to look at Azalea. They were right, she had to admit. Without the body – and maybe even if they had the body – it'd be impossible to prove the Lazarus formula had been the weapon. Other than a couple pieces of evidence that could have many other explanations, there was nothing that could back that up.

"The killer would need to use something to carry the poison around, right?" Dalia wondered, Kamiya nodding.

"Or the poison could be in the kitchen beforehand. I heard Matthew went to the kitchen to get the sodas, he could have taken the poison from the kitchen in that moment"

"You can't be serious!" the engineer shouted.

"...no, I'm not" he didn't make any attempt to hide how he suspected Matthew now, but without proof, how to pursue him? Dalia is right. If we can get that proof...

"Let's empty our pockets. Show what you have with you" Lucien suggested, starting to root through his own and taking out many small objects. "A few of us should make sure our suspects aren't hiding anything"

Azalea made a face of disgust. "You better keep your hands off me, Lucien" she warned, not liking the thought of him touching her. Rolling his eyes, Lucien gestured Dalia to step forward, once she had showed she had nothing strange in her pockets.

Kamiya, Matthew and Azalea were subjected to a search. Dalia carefully searched Azalea, nervously touching her cardigan pockets and examining her socks as if she was going to have incriminating evidence stashed against her ankles. Thioro patted Matthew in a manner that showed his experience in doing such things, and Lucien, although he was the one to make this suggestion, limited himself to sticking a hand in the pockets of Kamiya's coat, bashful at the thought of having to search in more detail.

And it was all for nothing. "She's clean!" Dalia informed, smiling. Lucien shrugged, still kind of embarrassed.

"Kamiya had nothing worthwhile on him. No bottles, no pills..."

"Matthew's pockets were empty" Thioro said. "I'm not surprised; after all these trials any killer would get rid of any evidence on them. Maybe it was all thrown away with the rest of Kouma's body"

 _Wait, maybe there's something to be done here._ It was a long shot, but may as well try. It was either this or listening to Spots about examining the exhaust vent, and at least with this he had a certain measure of control over her choices. She didn't trust the admins at all. "You know what else wasn't found? A way to inject the poison, whatever it was" Azalea said "If the strawberry had been soaked in poison or something, it'd have leaked onto the cake and I'd be dying too"

"That's a good point" Elaine admitted "Not that it matters, nothing was found"

"Do you have an idea, Azalea?" Thioro asked her.

"I think I have an idea of what could have been used to both carry and inject the poison"

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Injector**

* * *

"During the meeting, a showed a device that was like a specialized syringe. With it, anyone could have taken the formula with them and inject the strawberry in a second"

"Did you bring that thing filled with that formula, Azalea?" Dalia asked, receiving a negative answer "Then how could anyone use it?"

"There were only three people who could have access to the injectors and the formula: Thioro, Matthew and me. That limits things to Matthew and I as suspect, doesn't it?"

"It _would_ clear Kamiya if you could prove any of that formula was used" Elaine said begrudgingly. Alarmed, Matthew frantically searched in his pockets, showing they were empty.

"See? Nothing to inject anything! You're trying to blame me for no reason!"

Azalea played with a strand of hair, admitting with some reluctance: "I'm placing myself in as much suspicion here as you". It was a dangerous gambit but it could pay off if she was lucky.

"The problem is that there's nothing pointing at me! Literally everything you have said makes me the killer is purely...circumstantial! That's the word, right? It was proof that could fit anyone – it was proof that could fit _you_!"

He was right. Still nothing definite – yet. "It's just matter of time—"

"Can you stop already? I'm begging you" Matthew begged "I'm not the killer, you all have to believe me!"

"There's no proof he was even involved" Elaine said, a tone of smugness in her voice. "Can we focus on those who _did_ have a chance to kill her?"

"...I hate to admit it, but she's right. We're guessing too much here if we keep accusing him" Lucien said. _I'm running out of options here!_ Matthew was going to get away with his murder at this rate, but she needed proof, anything that could link Matthew to the murder! But what? There was nothing. The engineer had been careful not to leave anything tying him to the murder. It was impossible!

"So...what are we going to do now?" Kamiya asked. _There must be something I can do_. The only option she had left was Spots' offer.

"How about we...we ask the admins' help? Like we did in the other trials?" she proposed, uncertain. Was she submitting to a plan the administrators had? She didn't trust them at all, she couldn't trust them!

"Does that mean you have a place in mind to search?" Lucien asked with interest.

"...yes. Yes, I think there's a place" she replied, her voice cracking a little. At no point during the five trials so far she had sounded so uncertain as she did now, so much it raised eyebrows and made some wonder if maybe Azalea was starting to panic.

Thioro got off his podium, approaching Azalea. With an apologetic look at the rest, he led Azalea aside, lowering his voice. "You don't seem very sure about this"

"I'm not. It's the last chance to get something against Matthew, but I don't know if it's the right move..."

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Completely sure!"

Thioro rubbed the back of his head, noting the way the others were staring at him with concern. "I'm trusting you on this one"

"Any ideas about where to search?"

"...no, not really" he said, shaking his head "But if you need a tip, you should remember the absence of something can be evidence too. I don't know how much use that'll be to you, but that's something I always remember during my investigations"

"The absence of..." she hadn't considered that. They lacked direct evidence of Matthew's involvement, but so far she had been thinking about getting something tangible Matthew had left behind, or anything similar. Perhaps she should consider another angle of attack? What, though? _Perhaps...wait, I think I have an idea._ Relieved, Azalea smiled, relaxing. "Thanks, Thioro, I really needed to remember that"

"You got an idea?"

"I think there's something we can use. It's a long shot, but if I'm right then it makes undeniable Matthew is a suspect" her smile vanished "It'll make me look worse too, but that's a fair price to pay"

"You can do it. We believe in you" the detective said and returned to his podium, less worried. Azalea looked straight at the administrators and enunciated very clearly, certain of what she was doing:

"We'd like to ask for your help"

Spots stepped forward, eager to help. "Sure! What do you want us to examine?" she had expected Azalea to request examining the exhaust hood, then she'd be able to find out something that'd be impossible for her otherwise. That was why she had given Azalea that hint, and now it was the chance to give her that potentially vital piece of information.

That was why she didn't expect Azalea's request to be different:

"I want you to check Monobear's office"

Spots blinked. "Um...sorry, I think I didn't..." her confusion was echoed by most of the hostages. Lucien frowned, unsure of this.

"Are you asking for the office because that's where the formula is?"

"Something like that"

"Shouldn't we all decide?" Elaine asked, Matthew immediately saying the same thing. Deciding to appeal once again to Elaine, Azalea turned to her.

"Elaine, you have to believe me, I'm not the killer"

"You're accusing my brother"

"If what I'm thinking is wrong, then this would clear him" Azalea said "Please, give me a chance"

The writer clutched her hands, averting her eyes. "No. If I have to choose between you and him then I'm choosing him, no question" she wasn't going to change her mind. Her loyalty to her brother was too strong to give leeway to her former best friend, she refused to even consider Matthew was the killer. With a heavy heart, Azalea turned to everyone else.

"I have something in mind. I'm asking you to trust me. This will settle once and for all if Matthew and I are suspects or not" she wasn't as confident as she sounded, but in her opinion it was a worthwhile gamble. For their sake. For a moment there was silence while they tried to decide if they should trust her or not, until...

"I'm all for it" Dalia said. "Come on, let's trust her!"

"I'm inclined towards being on her side too"

"I want to believe in her logic"

"Pretty obvious I think she's onto something"

Elaine and Matthew were the only ones who refused to support Azalea's proposal. One by one the other Hostages chose to trust Azalea's proposal despite her status as a suspect. She was putting herself at risk, after all. If this ended showing nothing, then Azalea would be the most suspicious person for wasting their chance to get more information. It was a risk almost everyone was willing to take. Happy to have their support, Azalea faced Spots. "I want you to go into Monobear's office and wait for further instructions there"

"...your wish is my command" Spots accepted reluctantly, running out of the courtroom while the screen descended from the ceiling. Not long afterwards, the screen turned on and showed the inside of Monobear's office, the doors to the back were closed. "I'm here"

"His office looks very...boring" Thioro commented "I'd have thought he'd make it look like himself or something"

"The entire building looks like him" Lucien pointed out.

Azalea crossed her arms. "It's better this way, it's not an eyesore. Anyway, I want you to enter the backroom" from the corner of her eyes she looked at Monobear, gauging his reaction. He wasn't moving or even saying anything. During most of the trial it seemed like the person behind Monobear had been absent or busy. Was that something to be worried about?

"Going in" Spots confirmed, the doors opening without even a movement from her. The darkness inside the backroom didn't change when Spots stepped inside, the few objects in there still looked like they were floating in empty space. "There's the desk and that large vat"

"We should check both" Kamiya said, Azalea nodded in agreement.

"That's right, we should. The vat first, just to see if anything has changed there" it didn't hurt to check that, she figured. Spots grabbed the edges of the vat, peering into the container and seeing no more than transparent liquid. "Make sure to check the rim"

The camera moved around the vat, focusing on the rim. All of it was smooth, there were no marks or anything else to note. "Doesn't seem like there's anything to see here" Elaine said, having the decency not to sound satisfied about that.

"There's still the desk" Thioro said, Spots moving towards it. The box was still there, as well as the documents. "What now, Azalea?"

"The box. I want to see the injectors inside"

"Do you think the killer came back and put the injector there again?" Lucien wondered "There could be signs one of them was used recently"

"No, I'm thinking of something else..." Azalea said while Spots looked inside the box, showing the injectors. The sensation of triumph that filled Azalea was glorious. _Yes!_ "There it is!"

"There's what?"

"The injectors! There's one injector less than when we found them for the first time!"

Dalia stared at the devices on the screen, uncertain this was as significant as Azalea was making it sound. "Are you sure? Does that change anything?"

"Think of it like this: all of you found for the first time about the existence of this stuff when we showed you all at the diner, not long before we got knocked out. That means there were only three people who knew about this formula and the injectors"

Thioro raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I see where this is going"

"Matthew, Thioro and I were the only ones who knew about this. Why would there be one injector missing now that a murder happened? I say it's because the killer took one of the injectors, filled it with formula, and used it to poison the strawberry on my cake!" Azalea hit her podium with her palms, very pleased "This pretty much confirms Matthew and myself as the only people who should be suspected right now!"

"Wait, no! Stop that!" Matthew was fiddling with his lens in panic "This isn't how you think it is!" _Yes, he's worried!_ That meant this was something Matthew couldn't refute! A step towards the truth!

"What about Thioro? You said it was you three but you don't name him as a suspect!" Elaine demanded to know, looking like she was at the edge of hysteria. "You're leaving him out just because it's convenient for you!"

"Elaine—" Thioro started but the writer glared at him, furious.

"You shut up! I'm talking to Azalea!" she pointed at her "Why is he not a suspect?!"

Azalea pitied Elaine. She was so zealous about trying to clear Matthew she was being irrational right now. "Thioro never had a chance to poison the strawberry. He was never close enough to fill it with Lazarus formula"

"I-I-It may have happened when you weren't looking!"

"What do your notes say? You said you took a lot of them" Dalia asked. Although she didn't mean that in a malicious way at all, Elaine flinched like she was struck and didn't even try to look at her notes. Maybe she already knew her notes would confirm Thioro never approached the cake. Matthew leaped forward to defend himself, trying to discredit what Azalea said.

"Wait, wait! All you have is Azalea's word about it! Thioro, did you see how many injectors there were before?"

Thioro hesitated before replying. "I didn't count them"

"See? Azalea just is imagining things, or even distorting the truth to get away with her crime, if she's the killer!" he argued. Even though he knew that was a weak argument, it was all he had right now. Azalea smiled impishly, knowing well how to deal with that.

"Evidence is on my side on this one"

"Wait, what...?"

"I have proof I'm right when I say there are two injectors missing from that box – the one we took to show at the diner and the one the killer took"

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Videocamera**

* * *

"It's not my word we're relying on. We recorded our exploration, remember?" Azalea lifted the videocamera, rewinding the video, looking for the parts that showed the box with the injectors "See? Take a look!"

Accepting the offer, Kamiya approached, taking a good look and counting the injectors. "There are two less now. She's telling the truth"

"That doesn't make me the killer, you look just as suspicious as I do!" Matthew claimed, realizing he had no rebuttal for the proof Azalea had just presented. Azalea snapped the videocamera shut, nodding.

"I know. This wasn't to prove you're the killer. This was so everyone could see you and I are the only two possible suspects here" what mattered was that now they'd be willing to suspect Matthew, now they couldn't say there wasn't evidence tying him to the crime. He may not have the injector on him or anything, but now it was proven he had the chance to take an injector and that the formula was likely involved in the murder.

Elaine grabbed her head, upset. "This is crazy; this is insane...Matthew would never kill anyone..."

"I think Azalea may be onto something here, but there's a few points I have doubts about" Lucien said "I don't know how to find out which one is the culprit, but I'm wondering something..." _Okay, the crisis is over. Matthew is a suspect, now all I have to do is steer things so everyone vote for him._ And for that, she needed to clear any misconceptions and finish solving the murder plan. It was doable, she just needed to persevere for a while longer.

* * *

 **Nonstop Debate**

* * *

 _Box of Items / Glass Vials / Hatchet / Locked Diner / Soda Bottles_

* * *

LUCIEN: Leaving aside the matter of who is the culprit...

LUCIEN: ...I'm wondering how **they locked the diner**.

THIORO: What do you mean?

LUCIEN: The diner was locked while all of us were inside.

LUCIEN: We didn't see anyone **locking it from the inside**

LUCIEN: There was also **no way to lock it from outside**

LUCIEN: How was it done, then?

DALIA: Perhaps **_a lock was used_**?

ELAINE: There was no lock on the door

ELAINE: The **windows weren't an option** either

DALIA: Then **_a secret passageway_**...

THIORO: It's a diner, not an old building!

LUCIEN: See what I mean?

LUCIEN: This is a mystery I'd like to see solved

* * *

"Lucien is right about how there's no way to lock the door, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a way to stop the door from opening"

"Really? How, exactly?" he asked.

"Before that, you need to remember the door opens towards the outside, and like Elaine said, there's no lock on it. How do you lock the door, then?"

"It'd be easy if there was a way to block it"

"That's what the killer did. Using the heavy box of items Kouma put in there, the killer managed to lock the door from the outside"

Kamiya crossed his arms. "So that's how the killer did it...but then they'd need to exit the diner, move the box to lock the door, and then return inside. How did they do that?"

"I don't know"

"You don't know?" Elaine repeated with disbelief.

"It's a mystery for me. All I know is that a way exists, but I don't know what it is"

"Then let's not talk about that anymore. You're just speculating about how anyone could have left the diner. Focus on the evidence" Elaine seemed to have calmed down somewhat "Kouma kicked open the door and went out running, that means the killer made sure they wouldn't be affected by the gas. Do you see the problem here?"

"...the killer had no way to protect themselves?" she tried to guess, managing to hit the correct assumption.

"Exactly! How would a killer avoid the sleeping gas?" _I think I have something about that. This may be the time to show that clue I wasn't sure how to show before._

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Videocamera**

* * *

"The killer would be immune to the gas as long as they didn't breathe it. I think this video will show how they avoided the gas" unsure how it'd go, she got ready the video that showed a person with a gas mask and the lab coat. "Just by using that mask the gas would be nothing to you"

"Wait, is that Kamiya?!" Dalia asked, surprised, not having expected seemingly decisive proof Kamiya had been involved "That's him!"

"No, I don't think it's him. It must be someone using his coat and mask"

"Then we can't know who is using those clothes. They cover them too well" Thioro said.

"I don't think it's useless. If we put on the coat and mask, maybe we can pinpoint who is the person in this video" Lucien proposed. His logic was that, since Matthew and Azalea had different heights, maybe the way the coat looked could help decide who was the person behind the mask. It wasn't good evidence, but it was better than nothing. "I can do it first, if you want"

Kamiya silently took off his lab coat and passed it to her. "There you go"

"What about the mask?"

"...I guess at this point it doesn't matter I keep it on" he accepted, taking off the gas mask.

Underneath it there was someone who undoubtedly was of Asian descent. Dark brown hair framed his round face, he looked rather youthful, even for his teenage years. "Here"

Azalea took the mask, staring at Kamiya's face and trying to memorize it. "Why do you wear this, anyway?"

He looked at the podium where Vittoria used to stand just that morning and shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it. Just get your thing done" It was possible he had a good reason not to talk about it, she figured. She didn't want to press him too much and derail the trial, especially when it possibly was none of her business. She had something to focus on right now anyway. Quickly, Azalea slipped into the lab coat and put on the gas mask. It was all like being wrapped in a very warm cocoon, especially on her face. It was a bit suffocating. How had Kamiya spent so long with the mask on?

"How do I look?" Azalea asked everyone, stepping towards the center of the circle of podiums to let everyone see, and spun slowly in a circle. "Anything worth noting?"

"You're shorter than Kamiya. The coat is crumpling behind you" Lucien said.

"Is it?" she couldn't see by herself, so she had to trust Lucien's eyes for that. "Okay, then I guess we should look at the video and see how the bottom of the coat looks like. Where's the camera?"

It wasn't on Azalea's podium anymore, Thioro didn't have it, either. It took a moment for them to see it was on Elaine's podium and she was watching the video of the person running away. She was pale, almost chalk-white, her hands trembling slightly. "Elaine?" Dalia asked softly. She didn't reply. "Elaine, what do you see?"

"How does the coat look like in that video?" Lucien was less kind, demanding an answer without caring how visibly upset she looked. The writer held the camera, watching the video for a few seconds more, until she finally moved. Her hand hovered near the buttons to control the camera, a finger trembling over the delete button, but she couldn't bring herself to press it. Seeing the proof by herself that Azalea was innocent and therefore there was only one suspect left – her brother, the person she had grown with and thought she knew well – who could be the killer was too much for her.

Not having any patience for her emotional state, Lucien approached and took the camera, checking the video by himself. Elaine didn't react when she got the camera taken out of her hands. "The coat isn't even touching the ground. This person is taller than Azalea is"

"So either it's Kamiya or it's Matthew" Thioro said "And Kamiya didn't ever have the chance to approach the cake to poison it, he was missing the entire time. That leaves Matthew as the only possibility"

"No...that can't be..." Elaine whispered, her eyes tearing up.

"Wait, hold on! You can't say I did it!" Matthew yelled "I don't have a gas mask or a lab coat! Kamiya's the only one who has them! Do you think I went to steal them from his cottage or something?"

Azalea shook her head, relieved. Despite how much work Matthew had put on not leaving any evidence that could link him to the murder, they had managed to narrow things down in a manner that left no ground to suspect anyone else. It had been almost a miracle! "That's wrong. I think if you wanted, you could have gotten the mask and coat on time before the gas was spread everywhere"

* * *

Monobear File #5

Dismemberment

Lack of Blood

Hatchet

Anesthetic Gas

Missing Kamiya

Kitchen Content

Glass Vials

Soda Bottles

Slices of Cake

Locked Diner

Box of Items

Injector

Lazarus Formula #1

Lazarus Formula #2

Videocamera

Vomit

Pool of Blood

* * *

 **Missing Kamiya**

* * *

"Kamiya was missing the entire time. He was in that nook behind the kitchen doors, covered by the doors every time anyone entered to the kitchen. When you entered the kitchen to turn on the stove and make the gas spread, you could have easily stolen his gas mask and his coat"

"I didn't do that!" that was all the comment he had. Azalea glared at him, the person who thought could manipulate her to his own gain, who tried to kill her and then encouraged Elaine to accuse her. This was personal, and she intended to leave no room for doubt about his crime.

"You did. It's over, Matthew. You're the killer, and given the circumstances you're the only person who can be the killer"

"Azalea, have mercy, please!"

"No mercy!" Azalea yelled "I will reveal your crime step by step, right now!"

* * *

 **Climax Inference**

* * *

 _This brutal murder was all planned to aim for a specific victim: myself. The killer intended to take my life and most likely take advantage of my death to win at the trial. The weapon was the formula we found in Monobear's office not long before the murder, and the place chosen as the crime scene was the diner. However, before the murder could be committed, some details needed to be prepared beforehand._

 _First, the culprit obtained several vials of an unspecified sleeping agent from the pharmacy. Then he attacked Kamiya and managed to knock him out, placing his unconscious body in a nook behind the kitchen doors in the cafeteria. The purpose of this was both to have a scapegoat for the murder and obtain his gas mask and coat, and who better to catch Kamiya unguarded than the person who had been watching over him for days?_

 _The culprit prepared the vials, setting them into the exhaust hood, and then left the diner to go get the weapon of the crime. Maybe he would have used a different poison if he hadn't encountered me and Thioro and joined us to go explore Monobear's office, but this gave him the chance to pick up a rare substance. All he had to do was take an injector and fill it with Lazarus formula without us noticing it._

 _After the meeting where we all shared our findings, the culprit found the perfect chance to use the poison. Kouma brought a cake, the culprit decided he'd use the cake as the vehicle for the poison. The part of his plan that involved using sleeping gas needed all of us to stay at the diner, and for that, the culprit managed to leave the diner through an indeterminate manner, most likely located at the kitchen. Having exited the diner without anyone noticing him, the killer ran to the doors, moving a heavy box Kouma filled, and placed it in front of the door. This would lock us all, since the door only opened towards the outside. Having ensured nobody would be able to leave, the culprit returned inside the same way he had exited the diner._

 _Now it was time to use the poison. His chosen way to deliver the poison: the cake Kouma brought. To be more accurate, he poisoned the strawberry on the slice I separated for myself. It would have worked flawlessly if it hadn't been for Kouma's tastes. The killer couldn't have foreseen she liked strawberries so much she stole the one from my slice and ate it, sealing her fate._

 _The killer didn't notice his plan had gone wrong because he was busy setting off the sleeping gas. While the cake was served, the killer returned to the kitchen and moved down the exhaust hood over the stove, and turned it on to heat up the vials. While the substance in the vials evaporate and start spreading through the ventilation, the killer took the gas mask and the lab coat Kamiya was wearing and put them on. He was safe from the sleeping gas now._

 _Then his plan went even more wrong. Kouma didn't fall asleep like the rest. Showing a lot of force, she managed to kick open the door of the diner despite the heavy box, running away. The killer couldn't let Kouma do whatever she wanted. I don't know if by the time she ran outside he noticed she had been the one to drink the formula instead of me, but even if he didn't, he had to do something about Kouma anyway._

 _The pursuit is likely to have taken an hour. By then the effects of the Lazarus formula were present on Kouma. If it had been injected directly into her she'd have died in matter of minutes, but instead she had ingested the poison. It'd take an hour for it to kill her. Only when she died, the culprit was able to find her._

 _Leaving the body intact could lead to us finding out she had been poisoned. To avoid that, the culprit took a hatchet from the armory and proceeded to dismember Kouma. Most of the body was disposed of, most likely by throwing the remains over the stone fence surrounding the resort, and letting it fall into the void. An arm, the head and a leg were taken to the diner, they'd be enough to prove Kouma was dead._

 _At that point killing me would be a risky move. The killer had no other option than leave the body parts he brought, and pretend he was waking up just like the rest of us._

 _The culprit who did this plan gone wrong...it was you, **Matthew McCoy, the SHSL Engineer**._

-ooooo-

Azalea finished her recap of the crime. Now that his crime had been completely revealed for everyone to see, Matthew had gone silent, staring at her with blank expression. He didn't try to fight it, or even attempted to convince the rest any of that was incorrect. He just accepted it, not showing not even the slightest hint of remorse.

"Matthew, say something!" Elaine pleaded, getting completely ignored. "Please, give some argument, or at least...at least say you didn't do it!"

Silence was all she got. For a moment they waited to see if Matthew would do anything, but once it was clear he wasn't going to even try to argue, they decided to finish the trial. "Guess that's the end of it" Lucien said "Matthew did it"

"How could he have done this in cold blood?" Dalia wondered, aghast. She had never thought Matthew was the kind of person that'd do something like that. "Poor Kouma..."

"Shall we start the voting?" Azalea asked, getting nods from almost everyone. "Monobear, we're ready to—"

"Hold on" Elaine's voice cut her short. The writer walked off her podium, approaching Azalea and not daring to look at her to the eyes. "...this was a crime of passion. He saw a chance and took it, that's what happened. Right?"

Azalea wasn't sure how to really answer that other than with the truth. "No. This was carefully planned. He intended to kill me—"

"He can't have been so coldblooded. He's my brother, I have known him for my entire life. He can't be that kind of person"

"Elaine..."

"Tell me I'm right. Please. That's all I want to hear!" _I'm sorry...but you shouldn't ignore the immensity of his actions._

* * *

 **Panic Talk Battle**

* * *

ELAINE: I'm tired

ELAINE: I want to believe in him

ELAINE: Tell me what I want to hear!

ELAINE: Do you want me to beg on my knees?!

ELAINE: That can't be true!

ELAINE: He's not like that

ELAINE: My brother...!

ELAINE: I'd have noticed!

ELAINE: I refuse to believe this

ELAINE: He's not a bad person!

* * *

 _This was a crime of opportunity!_

 ** _Gla ss Via ls_**

* * *

"As much as it hurts to accept, you have to accept Matthew planned this. It wasn't a crime of passion or anything like that"

"That's speculation. You can't know what he was thinking—"

"The fact he taped vials to make sleeping gas shows this was a coldly calculated murder" Azalea explained "He had to go to the pharmacy, examine the different options, and choose the one that fit better his plans. That's not done impulsively, that requires thought and planning"

"But...Matthew isn't..." Elaine started sinking behind her podium. Pitying her but deciding it wouldn't be right to downplay the truth, Thioro added:

"He also decided to stash Kamiya behind a door and be ready to steal his mask and coat. He knew what he was doing"

"Why...? Why did he...?" from behind the podium, they all could hear Elaine's muffled sobbing. For a moment they all let her cry, giving her some time to process what had happened. The entire trial until now she believed in Matthew, in that her brother wouldn't do something so monstrous, and that belief had led her to accuse the person who had been her best friend in the resort. This had been the destruction of her trust – the trust she thought would never waver.

Of course she'd be heartbroken.

"We have to vote" Kamiya said. It still was odd to see him without his mask; it was going to take a bit to get used to that.

Azalea nodded. "Yeah, we have to...are we all ready?" Ready or not, it was voting time. Monobear wasn't the one to order everyone to vote, though. While Spots entered the courtroom, Stripes climbed onto Monobear's throne, pushing the bear off the cushion. Monobear fell to the floor, not even trying to protect himself. _What's going on with him?_

"I see you all got to a conclusion. Nothing will be done unless you vote, though, so go ahead, cast your votes" he said. It was obvious who was going to be pointed as the killer, despite Elaine's careless vote for any random hostage. Even Matthew seemed to have voted for himself. "What do you know, you have named Matthew McCoy as the killer. Congratulations for not screwing up"

"Unbelievable" Dalia muttered "What a cold bastard..."

Now that the vote had been finished, Matthew shrugged, moving the lens over his eye upwards and rubbing it, tired. "Yeah, you got me. I can't believe this happened like this. I was certain it'd go the way I planned it, but even the best schemes have a weak point" he lightly knocked on his forehead with his knuckles. "Foolish, foolish..."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"An apology" Lucien said coldly.

Matthew tilted his head, fooling around. "You don't need an apology"

Thioro frowned, crossing his arms. The trial had left a lot of questions in him, the least important one being... "How did you exit the diner? You must have needed an alternate way other than the door"

"Oh, that? The back of the exhaust hood can be opened, like a window. I sneaked through there"

"Really?" the detective turned his head to the administrators. "Is there such a thing over there?"

Spots nodded. "There is. Almost all the buildings in this resort have them, for...for reasons" she admitted. Wait, but they can move in this virtual world by appearing anywhere they want. Why'd they need secret passageways in almost all the buildings? "They're invisible to the naked eye, unless—"

"Unless you have this" Matthew tapped the glass of his lens "If I didn't have this lens I'd have never seen the very thin crack on the back of the exhaust hood. Lucky me!"

Dalia glared at him as if she was trying to shoot lasers at his cocky face. "How can you be so...so cold?!"

" It doesn't matter, you'll be dead in a few hours anyway"

"Is that a threat?" Lucien challenged.

"It's not a threat, it's an affirmation. You'll die. _Everyone_ here will die, I made sure of it"

Thioro narrowed his eyes, it wasn't hard for him to figure out what he was talking about. Not many things had been shared by everyone, after all. "The gas. What was it-"

"Chloroform. All of you are going to die in a few hours – in fact, you'd be dead if it wasn't for the admins getting in the way. You should thank them"

"Wait, we're going to die?" Lucien asked, his voice cracking for a moment "Are you serious?"

"Very serious. I had intended Azalea to die from the formula, though, but I guess I'll accept the losses"

"You...wanted me to die poisoned with the formula?" Was that why he didn't kill her when they were all unconscious, because he couldn't use the formula? That was a tad too specific of a killing method.

"Naturally! It _had_ to be with that formula, it was a necessary part of the plan" he said with a shrug.

"Why?! Why me?! What did I do?" she thought it was because she had helped catch the killers in every other trial. That'd be plenty of reason to target her for. Matthew put his hands behind his head, he didn't seem to be taking anything with the gravity it deserved.

"You want to know? Then I'm not telling—"

"Then Monobear will!" _He wouldn't pass the chance to try to cause despair by revealing something like that, right?_ After all, what'd cause more despair than a friend's betrayal for purely selfish motives? He wouldn't miss the chance to rub it in, that she was sure about. It was a contradiction to hope he'd say such a thing, but Azalea looked at him nonetheless, finding the bear staring right at her. "You know why he tried to kill me, right?"

"...o-of course I do! Who do you think I am? I'm the boss here!" he said, his voice lacking the bravado and ominous self-confidence it usually had. Azalea waited, thinking he'd continue, but he didn't.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are...you not going to say?"

Monobear's claws keep coming out and retracting into his fingers, over and over. A nervous tic from the person behind his controls? "Of course not! If you're asking then I'll give you despair by not answering. It's the most basic of the basic!" _Something isn't right..._ While it wasn't that surprising he'd refuse, she still felt something was off. Why had he been silent until now? It couldn't be he had been waiting for someone to talk to him!

"Give it up, Azalea. It's time for my execution" Matthew said, getting off his podium and strolling towards Monobear. Along the way and before anyone could stop her, Elaine hurried behind him, grabbing him by the arm.

"Matthew, wait! You have to wait!" she pleaded, her eyes still damp with tears.

He didn't acknowledge her obvious despair. Slowly, almost parsimoniously, he turned around, looking at her without a trace of love. "What now?"

"'W-W-What now...?' You killed someone!"

"I did" his words were like a knife to her heart. There was no trace of regret or remorse in him. Aghast, she let go of his arm without even noticing. Elaine's mouth opened, but no words came out at first, before she finally uttered:

"I'd have died if...if you..." she couldn't finish the sentence. Her brother would have sentenced her to death if he had managed to get away with his crime. A shadow fell over Matthew's eyes, even with his lens, he looked more like a monster than a person right now.

"That's how a killing game is like. It's not my fault"

"Not your fault?!" Elaine clenched her teeth, trying to grab him again, this time with more anger than anything else. "You chose to try to kill my friend! You tried to kill us all! How's this not your fault?"

Matthew's words were filed with disdain, like he was looking at a bunch of people that weren't worth his time. Without an ounce of concern, he said very clearly: "I told you: I didn't try to kill you all. I succeeded"

"That has to be another lie!" Everyone else was too aghast to react. How was anyone supposed to react to the affirmation you were going to die? Denial? Sure, Matthew hadn't proven he had used chloroform, but it wasn't a stretch to think he'd do such a thing – not after the brutal way he murdered Kouma.

Matthew ignored Elaine, instead shouting at Monobear, impatient:

"What are you waiting for? It's execution time! Get done with it!"

"Wait! You haven't answer—"

"Monobear!"

"Don't you dare" Kamiya yelled at the bear"

Matthew glared at him. "What the hell are you waiting for?!"

Most of the Hostages shouted at Monobear to wait, to give them time to interrogate Matthew and get him to answer all of their questions, while Matthew pressured Monobear to start the execution as soon as possible. The bear kept swaying from side to side, like he wasn't sure how to get a word into the discussion, until...

"Can you all shut up?!" he exploded. The shouts stopped, cowed into submission. Monobear got off the throne, approaching Matthew, who extended his hands forward so the handcuffs could be snapped onto his wrists. Neither the bear nor the administrators brought forth the handcuffs, though. Instead, the bear shook his head. "No"

"...no?"

"I'm locking you away. No execution today"

Azalea was frozen on her spot, confused. That was a complete deviation from how every trial had gone so far! Why was Matthew receiving that preferential treatment?! "Why the fuck would you not execute him?!" Azalea screamed, outraged, her nails were digging so deep into her palms she could feel blood starting to trickle from her hands.

"He has shown no remorse and doesn't deserve a second chance" Dalia added. Lucien crossed his arms, scowling.

"Nobody else has received mercy, and they weren't as shamelessly evil as this guy"

"Execute him already!" Thioro yelled. Among them, Kamiya moved from person to person, whispering to them, Azalea soon getting her turn. The pharmacist grabbed her by the shoulders and whispered:

"Stop that! Please"

"What? What are you saying?"

"You're pressing him too much. What if he executes all of us or something?" he urged, letting go of her and approaching the next person.

It wasn't too outlandish to think that. Monobear could be unpredictable if pushed, if they pressured him too much they were risking their lives. But still, why was he sparing Matthew of all people? Were they in cahoots? Was the kidnapper controlling Monobear so unsubtle they'd reveal Matthew's allegiance to them in this manner? The admins were standing aside, avoiding getting involved in anything. Their inaction said a lot – they saw no reason to intervene therefore they agreed with Monobear.

Kamiya's cautionary pleads didn't convince anyone. Talking at once, almost unintelligibly, they kept telling Monobear to stop bumbling around and execute Matthew already, Kamiya and Elaine being the only ones who disagreed. Elaine was on her knees, pressing her hands against the sides of her head, distressed. Worried, Azalea approached her, right when Monobear cut short everyone.

"Shut up! All of you must get out right now or else I'm gonna kill you all with my own paws!"

"But what about—" Thioro started, Monobear lunging at him, forcing the detective to step back. Monobear wasn't kidding. Calling Monobear's bluff was risky, so instead, the Hostages agreed to back off, much to Kamiya's relief. One by one, they started to leave the trial room.

Matthew had his hands on his hips, glaring at Monobear with disapproval. "I know what you guys are trying to do. It won't work"

"You shut up" Stripes said, pushing Matthew towards his podium, Matthew letting himself be taken there without any resistance. Shrugging, he got on the podium. He was so confident the kidnappers wouldn't be able to succeed at their plans he was willing to play along.

"We already won. Only one of us needs to get out of here, and that'll be our victory"

"I said shut up!" from the podium, belts and restraints popped out, grabbing Matthew and pressing him against the column. The engineer simply let himself be attached there, looking at the plush animals with mocking expression.

It was only matter of time before they won. That he was certain about.

-ooooo-

The trial ended in an unsatisfying note for everyone. Although they caught the culprit, he wasn't executed, for reasons nobody could fathom. Not only that, apparently everybody was going to die in matter of hours. Nobody was in mood to talk, much less to go interrogate the administrators. It'd be a waste of time anyway; no way they'd answer honestly. The only thing to do was to return to the rest of Heavenly Resort.

Azalea had a lot to be worried about, anyway. Was there a way to stop all of their deaths? Was it even possible? If the administrators couldn't stop that from happening, what options did she have?

"We have to end this" Azalea said to herself, looking out of the window. To her side, Elaine raised her head. _Oh, right..._ When they left the courtroom, Azalea waited for Elaine, walking with her to the train. Together the girls walked, supporting each other as if they thought the other was going to crumble down at any moment. Elaine was pale, her eyes swollen, but she wasn't crying anymore. She had resigned herself to the truth: her brother had tried to kill Azalea and dismembered Kouma.

Her brother had tried to throw them all under the bus.

Disheartened and ashamed, Elaine had accepted Azalea's help, always staring at her shoes. She never said a word until Azalea muttered that, and all she got out was a weak 'what?'

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking"

"Okay..." Elaine took off her glasses and rubbed one of her eyelids with her fingertips "Since you're here I...I wanted to apologize, Azalea"

"Apologize? For what?"

"I treated you horribly since this morning. I shunned you after you helped catch Vittoria, and then I accused you during this trial. I have been an awful friend, haven't I?"

It was true she had felt hurt by Elaine's insistence on shunning her and then accusing her of a brutal murder, but admitting that right now would only make Elaine feel worse. She wanted to avoid that. Right now Elaine needed support, after having found out the extent of Matthew's evil, and Azalea was determined to be the most supportive person Elaine needed right now.

Elaine may have hurt her feelings, but Azalea wasn't going to do the same to her, especially not in a moment of vulnerability.

"That happens to anyone" Azalea said softly "Just forget about that. Right now there's other stuff to focus on"

"Other stuff...?"

"We have to put an end to everything that's happening here. That's our current objective, and we..." she shouldn't remind her they all were dying, should she? "...we should get that done as soon as possible"

"That's going to be hard" Elaine muttered.

"It'll be hard. That's why I want to ask for your help"

"My help?" Elaine looked up.

"Yes. I can't do it alone. Nobody here can do it alone. So I want to ask you to help me. Will you do it?" she extended a hand. Elaine sniffled, staring at her palm and, with some hesitation at first but then gaining determination thanks to Azalea's iron will and wish to be her friend despite what she did, she gripped the hand, grabbing it with both of her hands, clutching it like it was a lifesaver.

"I will" she said, a blush filling her cheeks. "You can count on me"

Azalea smiled. "Thanks. Let's do it together"

Despite everything that had happened, despite the horrors of the day and how everything had been about to bury her and everyone else in despair, and even though the immediate future looked pretty bleak, there finally was something that showed her it was all worth it.

She had regained her best friend.


	41. Intermission IV

Toyotomi checked the remaining reserves of food and frowned. Their supplies were starting to dwindle; it was time to start getting worried. They knew this would happen, but the rate they were burning through their food provisions was quicker than they had all calculated it'd be.

It wasn't like they could go to a random grocery store to get more. They were on an island, after all. The Future Foundation didn't know what they were doing – hopefully. If they knew, they'd all be doomed. They also couldn't leave the island because of the saboteur. "Sabotage..." he mumbled, glancing down at the checklist in his hands without reading it. It was all a risky plan, so there were a lot of ways it could go wrong, but they never thought someone would sabotage it.

Mitsuhiko had described the saboteur: a woman with hair of the same color than Akane's, with glasses and middle-aged. Akane's mother, he had said, but he wasn't sure about it, he just said it was likely it was her mother and therefore they should tell Akane or else she may act in a way that'd endanger the plan. Toyotomi hadn't been comfortable with that, but the others agreed with Mitsuhiko: Akane shouldn't hear about who the saboteur may be.

Why would Akane's mother sabotage them, though? The only reason anyone would have to stop their plan was if they wanted to save the former leaders of Diavolos Avante. Or it could be someone aligned with SHSL Despair, wanting to save the last vessels of Junko Enoshima's will.

Because SHSL Despair was over now.

According to the news they had all read, members of SHSL Despair all over the world had been rounded up and imprisoned or killed. A particularly notorious group – the Remnants of Despair – was missing and thought to be hiding and unable to act. Leaders and popular figures of the resistance were starting to take the helm and direct things to minimize the impact of any despair around the world. Some even had already drafted plans to rebuild and reform their societies and hometowns, and it didn't seem like there were going to be any obstacles.

Diavolos Avante was over, too. Mitsuhiko had disbanded the organization and all the prominent leaders had gone into exile or surrendered, to change their lives. Only the three targets – the Main Board – remained, and they were on this island. In their opinion, it was only matter of time before even those three got dealt with.

Even the Future Foundation was over now. The Remnants of Despair had killed almost all the leaders of the Future Foundation, effectively crippling the foundation and causing its downfall. In a way that was favorable for Toyotomi's group: without the foundation breathing down their necks, the odds they'd find out what was going on with the Neo World program and what they were doing were pretty low. Toyotomi felt bad he was relishing in the downfall of the Future Foundation, but the current mission was what mattered the most.

Then on whose side was the saboteur on, leaving aside the problem of their identity? All major factions were done for.

Toyotomi wrote a few notes about the dwindling food rations and left the pantry, going to continue his duties. Now it was time to monitor the communications, see if there were any changes outside or if there was any weather they should be aware of. Leaving the clipboard aside, Toyotomi pressed a few buttons on a console and read the emails and other information from varied allies.

What he read was one of the worse-case scenarios they had envisioned. Reading the remaining emails in a hurry, Toyotomi closed everything and immediately turned on a microphone, ready to use for the first time the speakers throughout the entire island:

"Guys, gather at the pod room, now!"

-ooooo-

The masterminds of the last killing game gathered around the pod that contained Yukio's asleep body. Given the urgency of the situation, they wanted to discuss it near their partner, even if he couldn't say anything at all. Akane put her hands on the controls of the pods, touching the buttons. "We can't leave them alone. Interrupting the plan is a bad idea"

Hikasa carefully moved her hands away from the buttons, just in case. It'd be awful if she accidentally pressed anything. "If Future Foundation agents are coming here, then they're gonna find out everything we're doing here"

"He's right" Toyotomi said "We're breaking so many rules you have no idea. This is a killing game!"

"We'd be lucky not to get imprisoned for the rest of our lives" Mitsuhiko said, grim. Akane slammed her hand on the glass of the pod.

"We can't stop right now! We're so close...we only need to find one more and then it's all over!"

Yamaguchi approached, upset. "Akane, stop! It's over now! We need to gather everybody, erase all traces we ever used this machine—"

"How long will it be before they arrive?" Mitsuhiko asked. Toyotomi shrugged, not really sure how to calculate that. The email he had read did have an estimate location of where the agents were coming from, but it was a tad difficult to put an exact time of arrival.

"Three hours? Maybe?"

"That's enough time to cover up everything" Hikasa commented. Akane's hands trembled, all the work they had done so far was almost finished, and now the rest of the Future Foundation was about to get in their way. Why now?!

"Is this it? Are we...going to have to stop?"

"Maybe we don't have to stop" Toyotomi said, earning a frightened look from Yamaguchi.

"What?"

"If some of us go intercept them we may be able to convince them to not come. I don't think it's likely, but it can work"

"How about we both delay their arrival and we finish what we're doing?" Mitsuhiko proposed "We'll need to keep them busy so we can get away, anyway"

"...really? We're...going to continue" Yamaguchi crossed her arms over her belly, pressing slightly. She felt like she was going to throw up. "I dunno if I can, honestly. That trial was...their fates are...I just can't go on anymore"

"You have to. You're Monobear"

"I don't want to!" she shouted "I don't think I can keep pretending to be that bear for much longer!"

"Then end this while I get in their way. Wrap it up and then let's leave" Toyotomi proposed "Do you think you can last a little longer? Just enough to finish here?"

"Wait, we haven't all agreed to end this now! We still need to find the last one!" Mitsuhiko objected. Akane, despite her insistence on continuing, hesitated for a minute before agreeing:

"Yeah, let's continue"

"Akane! Don't you feel some sympathy towards them?! They're...they're dying _right now_! Alter Ego's the only thing that's keeping them alive!" Yamaguchi chided, horrified.

"I know that! I believe Alter Ego can keep the remaining group alive for as long as possible. We...we have come this far. We should keep going" she replied, avoiding the part about the sympathy. Having noticed that, Yamaguchi pressed on:

"They're sick and on the verge of death. Please, listen to me"

"It's not that I don't sympathize—"

"I say we end this now" Hikasa voted. "Ogata-san, what's happened to you? Why are you willing to risk their lives?" the question hit Akane hard, she looked away, closing her eyes with contemplative expression. Just how far was she willing to go to succeed in this plan? It had already started to go wrong, anyway.

"...a name. Let's keep going until we get the last name. Once we get it, we immediately get everyone else out"

"Alter Ego, how long is it gonna take?" Toyotomi asked the console. A face they still hadn't gotten to appeared on the screen, the face of a young girl. "Do you think we can get it soon?"

"Um...do you want an accurate estimation? I just finished scanning Dalia Roble's memories, but..."

"Just the minimum you think it'd take would be enough"

Alter Ego thought for a moment. "I should be able to finish everything in one week" That was the minimum? Not good. Akane clenched her teeth, feeling a pang of anxiety.

"That's too long...this is too much" she had to admit that, although she was willing to take a risk for the sake of finding the last Main Board member, one week was an excessive time for that. "How are you holding up? Is it too difficult to keep them alive?"

"Thank you for the question!" Alter Ego liked they took the time to check on her. It made things more bearable "Um, I'm afraid it's taking me most of my focus...that's the reason why it'll take me so long to finish scanning the remaining candidates. Is it okay?"

"...yes, it's okay. Don't worry about it" it wasn't Alter Ego's fault it'd take this long, Akane couldn't hold it against her. Unhappy everything was going wrong, she sighed "I guess you vote for ending this whole thing now, right?"

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed. Although she believed she was right, she realized losing her composure would only make her partners dislike her, so she tried to calm down. Deep breaths, squeezing her hands together... "If...if you want I can keep enduring this for just a few hours more. Just enough to get everyone out"

"Did you really change your mind, Akane?" Mitsuhiko inquired, his voice tense. Akane shook his head immediately.

"No, it's not that. I still think we should continue, but it just isn't feasible. We're going to have to cut this short" she said, her finger tracing circles around the buttons of the console "Maybe it's for the better"

"Then it's decided. I'll go" Toyotomi said "Hikasa-kun should prepare another ship and take everyone away from here"

Hikasa raised his eyebrows. "I don't think some of them will accept but alright. No problem" both men prepared to leave, wishing Akane, Mitsuhiko and Yamaguchi good luck.

It was the final stretch. Only time would tell if the plan would go well, or if the end would make everything be a disaster. Akane, Mitsuhiko and Yamaguchi sat to their console, preparing to oversee the Hostages and their last few hours in the simulation.

"So...how are we going to do this?" Yamaguchi asked, making sure her microphone on the console was turned off. Akane leaned back on her seat.

"Do you guys remember how our killing games' final stage was like?"

"I think I see where this is going" Yamaguchi sighed. Mitsuhiko spun on his chair.

"Really? Are you sure there should be a final investigation for them? We'd be revealing everything and that can only make them loathe us. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to kill us as soon as they got out of the simulation"

 _I wouldn't be surprised either._ Good intentions or not, the six of them had caused a lot of suffering to thirteen innocent people. The remaining few may try to retaliate if they get a chance. "I know I'd be upset if I got out of something like this and I never got answers. It's the least we can do for them"

"Does that mean we'll have to make one last trial too?" Yamaguchi asked "I...I said I could last a little while longer, but I'm not sure if I can handle a final trial"

"One of us can replace you if you want"

It was a tempting offer, but Yamaguchi rejected it. "If I said I could do it then I have to..."

"For the record, I still don't like this new idea of yours, Akane" Mitsuhiko said "And I still don't want to get them out without catching the last one. Too bad you all voted for this" tapping a few keys, Mitsuhiko typed a message for Alter Ego, instructing her to start preparing the protocol to evacuate the simulation and be on standby – all while keeping alive all the remaining suspects.

The end was nigh, finally.

Akane hoped it would go smoothly.


	42. Chapter6 The End of the Mutual Killing I

By the time they returned to the Resort it was already nighttime, but nobody was sleepy. Instead, they all gathered in front of the train station. There was a lot to discuss, after all. For example the possibility they're all going to die in matter of hours. "I can't believe it. There's no way all of us are going to die" Lucien said.

Dalia held her abdomen, wincing. "Since he said that I have been feeling queasy. Is it because he said I'm dying or is it for real?"

"Chloroform can cause death if a person is administered too much at once. I have a feeling Matthew didn't care about the dose" Kamiya informed them, his knowledge as a pharmacist telling him just how dire their situation was.

"You're the pharmacist here, you must know a cure!" Dalia hoped there was anything they could do, any antidotes or stuff that could help them, but Kamiya shook his head.

"There's no antidote, and although a couple substances may counter the chloroform, they may be too dangerous – and by now the chloroform must have been absorbed by our systems anyway. It doesn't matter now, we're dead"

"The bad guys are the ones keeping us alive?"

"Most likely. They don't want us dead—" Thioro started saying, but such opinion was dashed immediately by pretty much everyone else. Irate complaining was the rebuttal he received:

"Like hell they don't want us dead!"

"If they didn't want us dead, we wouldn't be in this horrible game!"

"I'm wringing their necks as soon as I'm out of here"

Thioro made a face of discomfort. "Come on, guys. Things aren't as bad"

"How do you know?"

"I just know. Look, the point is that we can't know the kidnappers are as malicious as we may think they are. The criminals they're looking for are the true bad guys here"

"No way Matthew isn't one of them" Lucien said. Near Azalea, Elaine tensed, but it wasn't like she had any rebuttal. Everything was pointing that Matthew was likely to be one of the three criminals they were looking for. Azalea heard her mumble 'Would he really...?', even though she was starting to accept her brother was a ruthless criminal, it didn't make such thoughts any less painful.

"So we need to find the other two? Do you think if we find them, the admins will get us out of here before we die for real?" Kamiya wondered. This was the best time to establish the course of action, so Azalea took the helm of leader and stepped forward. She made sure not to use her innate talent to make people do what she wanted, instead trying to be convincing without being forceful.

"We can't rely on them. If we want to survive, we'll have to find a way ourselves. We need leverage, and by now we know there's one thing the kidnappers are looking for. We have to find them and use them as our ticket out of here.

That's what we will do: we're going to take one last look around, and make sure we find the right clues. Do we all agree?"

Even though death was so close to all of them, even though it wouldn't be long before they keeled over, there was a sense of unity that hadn't been there before Azalea started talking. "Sure, we got this far. Let's push a little further"

"Where do we start? I'll do anything you ask"

"I think I know where to search!"

Even though everyone was eager to start their investigations after Azalea talked to them, she was certain none of that was because of her ability. These were fighting words from everyone, coming from the depths of their hearts. Even Elaine, who had lost her brother to madness not long ago, had a vague smile on her face. She gave Azalea an encouraging nod. "Well said"

"...I didn't think it'd work" Azalea admitted, bashful.

"You underestimate how much they trust you. Didn't you notice how much they hesitated to point fingers at you when I..." Elaine hurried to finish her point, trying to avoid mentioning what she had done "I'm sure they'd follow you to the ends of earth if you asked them. Or to the end of this virtual world, I guess"

Then that's what we will do. Going to the metaphorical end of the virtual world, find every tidbit of information, and get the upper hand in the horrible situation, and together they'd do it. Azalea believed that wholeheartedly. "Thioro, search the cottages. See if you can get into Matthew's cottage, just in case he hid something in his room. He may know who the other criminals are"

"Yes, it's worth a try" Thioro agreed, looking in direction of the cottages. He'd be able to get in them easily.

"Dalia, retrieve the stuff Kouma put in that box and see if anything's missing"

"Do you want me to bring it to you?" she asked.

"No, just take it to the trial. Can you do that? The box is kind of heavy—"

Dalia gave a thumbs-up. "It'll be easier than you think" Glad to have her cooperation, Azalea moved to the next:

"Lucien and Kamiya should check all locations again. See if anything has changed, or if we missed anything about them before"

"That's going to take a while" Lucien muttered, resigned. It wasn't like he was going to refuse to help. Kamiya smiled, hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

"It's not going to be so bad"

"Stop treating me with familiarity. I don't trust you at all" he did help Khotso during the second murder. Even if he had done nothing wrong since then, that still was a stain in his reputation.

Azalea turned to the last person that needed orders. "Elaine, you should get into the third floor of the dining room. Enter through the Petting Zoo, get to the second floor, and find a way to open the gate to the third floor"

"What's up there?" the writer inquired.

"I don't know. I think nobody here does – it's always been closed" she stopped, waiting for a rebuttal in case she was wrong. When it was clear nobody had been up there, she clapped her hands. "I'm not sure how to enter, but I bet you'll find a way. Do you think you can do it?"

"...I'll try" she accepted. Azalea looked at everyone with pride.

"We all have our tasks now. Let's do it!"

"Wait, what will you do?" Lucien asked. It did seem like everybody but Azalea had a specific task, just because she was the leader it didn't mean she could get away with doing nothing.

Azalea thought carefully how to reply to that. She needed to establish her leadership, make clear she was taking it seriously. "I'll check on everybody. I assigned everybody part of this mission, it's only fitting if I oversee it all, even if I need to visit everybody at least once. Any objections?" No objections. Since all tasks had been given, everybody except Lucien and Azalea moved to investigate. Unsure why Lucien had stayed, Azalea turned her attention to him. "Does this mean you have an objection?"

"No, do whatever you want. I'm just wondering if this was the first time you did something like this" he said, touching the point of the fishhook on his shirt over and over, thoughtful. "I remember you weren't very good at motivating anybody before. Did something change?"

...maybe something did. "Not really"

"Just wanted to tell you you're doing a good job. I wish you had taken the leader spot earlier. Maybe..." he looked away, wistful "...maybe we'd be in a better situation right now" Silence. Was that an accusation towards her? About how her refusal to be the leader led to so many deaths? "I'm not saying it's your fault. I just wish you had showed this courage before"

"I'm not a brave person, Lucien"

"I think you are. You're a brave woman. If you ever want to visit the coasts of Portugal I wouldn't mind taking you to my lighthouse" he sounded sincere. "I entrust my life to you" Although he wasn't showing much warmth, Azalea felt he truly meant that, and this was quite the incentive to not let them down. She had to help find some good evidence, for everyone's sake!

While Lucien left to fulfill with Kamiya their part of the investigation, she had some time to think. There were a couple things she needed to keep in mind...for example, was Thioro correct when he talked about how her real talent may not be the SHSL Motivator? So far she had taken that as the truth, but now that she thought about it, she had no conclusive proof the detective was correct. Was he?

 **Super High School Level Instigator**

 _The title Thioro believes Azalea should have. Presumably, her real skill makes people indulge in their more negative traits, as well as be more persuasive and encouraging when it's about giving orders._

If that was true, then there had to be a reason why the administrators kept her real talent hidden – not even Azalea herself knew it! – yet gave her a title that was close enough. It'd have been harder for her or anyone to realize what her real talent was if she had been named anything else. This couldn't be a coincidence, there had to be a reason, she was sure of it!

The other thing she had to think about right now was the stuff she had found in Monobear's Office. It had to be important in some manner, or else it wouldn't be hidden in such a secure place nor Matthew would have aimed to get some in the first place. How had he known about the existence of the Lazarus formula? Did he find something beforehand?

It'd be easier to keep this in mind if she could get the documents again. With some luck they'd be in Kouma's box. Hoping Dalia had managed to retrieve the box, Azalea walked towards the diner. Indeed, Dalia was in front of the diner, moving the heavy box in her arms to find the most comfortable way of carrying it. When Azalea approached, she pressed the top of the box, making sure the contents wouldn't spill when she tried to greet Azalea. "I think everything we all found is still here! Except the camera you have, but you get what I mean" she informed.

"Really? Matthew didn't take anything with him?"

"If he had, it'd be on the video" Dalia said correctly. _Oh, true! The video proves he didn't take any clues. That's good!_ It meant they could examine everything and decide what could be useful. First the documents she had come to get. Azalea opened the box, taking the papers and giving them a cursory read again.

"This all makes me wonder if this poison exists in the real world too"

"I had never heard anything like it before" Dalia said "Many ecology niches have animals and plants that produce toxins, but...none of them are like this" she cringed "This Lazarus thing is very gentle, I can't recall anything like it"

 **Lazarus Formula**

 _The Lazarus Formula is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless liquid. When injected into the bloodstream, it'll cause a peaceful death in five minutes. When ingested, the Lazarus Formula will cause death in an hour. Symptoms of poisoning with this compound include excessive sweating, vomiting, and headaches._

Azalea folded the documents and put them back into the box. "If this substance doesn't exist in the real world that means the kidnappers created it for some reason"

"For us to use as a weapon?"

"If they planned to give it as a weapon, it wouldn't be hidden in Monobear's office" But then why would they create such a weird poison? Nothing happened without a reason, the hard part was pinpointing that reason accurately. Azalea picked up a scrap of paper, recognizing the chicken scratch on it. "This is what you brought"

Dalia smiled nervously. "I wrote it in coding so the admins wouldn't—"

"I can read this, don't worry" that didn't seem to make Dalia feel any better, apparently Matthew's comment about her handwriting had stung more than Azalea had thought. Eager to get away from the awkwardness, Azalea changed the topic "You're sure the information here is correct?"

"Monobear said it was the truth! And I believe him, just this once" If it wasn't because of the motive I'd think he was lying, but...

 **List of Kidnappers**

 _A scrap of paper mentioning six names and titles: Akane Ogata (SHSL Chemist), Mitsuhiko Hikari (SHSL Hunter), Mika Yamaguchi (SHSL Fashion Designer), Saburou Hikasa (SHSL Weightlighter), Masamune Toyotomi (SHSL Prosthetic Makeup Artist), SHSL Yukio Ohmoto (SHSL Attorney)_

"If we can find out who is controlling what stuffed animal that could be of use to us..." Azalea mulled.

"Really? I don't see how"

"It's not much, but it could give us the upper hand?" she didn't want to admit she had talked without thinking. Besides, she may not be wrong! It could be of help somehow! To try to get away before Dalia realized Azalea had said something useless, she thanked her and left in a hurry, ducking into the nearest building and waiting until Dalia passed by with the box. _God that was embarrassing._ She wanted to give a good impression, look like she knew what she was doing, be the leader everyone deserved. Once she was sure Dalia was far away, she exited the building, hurrying towards the cottage area.

Just like she had requested, Thioro was in the cottage area. He was on the porch of Matthew's cottage, frowning and staring through the window. "How's it going?" Azalea asked, getting on the tip of her toes to look over his shoulder "Did you find anything?"

"...there was nothing" he said, dragging a hand over his face. "I don't get it. I thought he'd have something, but he left absolutely nothing in here"

"He could have hidden it somewhere"

"Do you think I didn't check everywhere? I'm a professional, I know what I'm doing"

She believed him. Although they had hoped to find something useful in Matthew's cottage, he had shown to be a decent planner. It wasn't a stretch to think he had either avoided leaving any clues or hid them well. Thioro, taking a deep breath, got away from the window and ordered his thoughts: "If we can't get any clues left behind, then we should consider his actions"

"Like...he killed someone?" Azalea wasn't sure she understood what he meant.

"Kinda, but I meant it in a more specific manner. For example, do you remember how he got out of the diner? Through the back of the exhaust hood over the stove?"

"Oh, right. Nobody except he and the administrators knew about that"

"That made me think...why would he know about that secret? Why would he be examining the back of the exhaust hood with that magnifying lens of his?" the detective raised a finger "I say it's because he knew there'd be _something_ there. It's the only explanation I can think"

It didn't sound too improbable. "Fine, but then how did he find out there was something even if he didn't know what it was?"

"That...that I don't know. Sorry" he paused for a moment "...I have a theory, if you want to hear it" Needless to say, she wanted to hear it. "Keep in mind Matthew was one of the criminals. What if there was a traitor among the kidnappers?"

"A traitor in their group...?" That sounded unlikely "Wouldn't a traitor be helping us?"

"Thirteen of us are innocent and therefore don't matter in the long run. I think a traitor among them would aim to destroy whatever plan they have, and sadly that doesn't include rescuing us. We're on our own"

 _Geez, fantastic._ Being on the crossfire of two warring factions would be a rather bad situation. Azalea really hoped that wasn't what was going on.

 **Thioro's Theory**

 _One of the Hostages knows more than they should, including information about the simulation and its workings. That person may be working against the kidnappers._

"I can't say I'm convinced but I guess it's a possibility" Azalea said "Leaving that aside, there was something else I wanted to talk about, now that we're here. I want to show you the clue I got from Monobear..." she put her hand in the pocket of her cardigan, finding nothing. Panic momentarily overtook her before she remembered why it wasn't there. "I'm so stupid, I took off the cardigan with the photo!"

"What photo?"

"Monobear gave me a photo that made me realize something's off about the third murder – the one Chrysanthe died in" without waiting to check if he was following her, Azalea ran to her cottage, opening the door with haste. She couldn't relax until she had that photo back in her hands, she needed it! "Something smells about that murder and I want to find out what's going on!"

Thioro entered the cottage, staying near the entrance door while Azalea searched the cottage for her bloody cardigan. "Are you sure?"

"Completely sure. Just look at this" Azalea lifted the bloody cardigan and shook it, two objects falling to the floor. One was a yellow cravat with several arrows attached to it – Azalea averted her eyes immediately. She had completely forgotten about Vittoria planting that in her pocket – and the other was a photo that fluttered to the floor. With shaky hands, she lifted it and turned it around so Thioro could see. "It's proof something's off about the murder"

The photo depicted a table in a place Azalea had recognized: Alistair's cottage. On the table there was a vase of roses, and the focus of the photo was the dry blue paint that had splashed all over that section. Back then it had taken her a moment to realize what was wrong about that picture, but once she had noticed it she couldn't unsee it:

The vase was completely clean despite part of it being in front of where the paint had splashed.

 **Photograph**

 _A photo of a table in Alistair's cottage. It depicts the vase of roses that killed Chrysanthe, brought by Alistair during the first days of stay in the resort. The vase is partially in front of a blue paint splash stain all over the wall. The vase is pristine._

Thioro swallowed saliva, holding Azalea's stare. "I think I see what you mean"

"I'd be worried if you didn't know. Other than me, you, Dalia and Kamiya are the only ones who know what this means"

The detective considered taking a good look at the photo, asking for it, but surely Azalea wouldn't want to let go of such a valuable piece of evidence. Maybe it was for the better she knew about this. "What'll you do with that?"

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this. It's just a feeling, but I'm sure this will be the key to force the kidnappers to admit the truth of this entire killing game"

"Do you really think they'll tell the truth?"

"Even if they don't, I already have a feeling what's going on"

 **Paint Rocket Bottle**

 _Sigrun, Dalia, Thioro and Kamiya experimented with rocket bottles a day after the first trial. One of the rocket bottles, filled with blue paint, crashed into Alistair's cottage, breaking through the window and splashing the paint around._

Even though Azalea didn't trust Thioro as much as she'd like to, the detective was one of the remaining Hostages. Alienating him was not an option. Azalea decided to be upfront, just to make sure he knew she wasn't playing around. "Thioro, something's weird about you"

Thioro crossed his arms, feeling the cold of the night. If only he hadn't ditched his suit jacket. "Can I ask why or is that a waste of time?"

"It's just a feeling. There's something about you that's off...for example, why are you here?"

"Because the kidnappers brought me, of course"

"I don't mean that. Thioro, you _died_. I saw your dead body, I even investigated it. I'm very sure you were dead" Azalea narrowed her eyes "Yet you're here. You even arrived in the middle of the trial!" the detective stayed silent, holding his poker face admirably well "I'm not sure yet what's going on with you, but I know you're hiding something. Don't pretend you're not"

"...you know that even if I was hiding something I wouldn't say anything, don't you?"

"I know. That doesn't matter, I will tear all the mysteries apart and reveal the truth" Azalea promised "Not you nor the kidnappers will stop us"

 **Thioro's Survival**

 _Thioro was found dead during the fourth murder, yet he appeared alive during the fourth trial. The injection mark and allergic reaction he had on his wrist were gone._

"...you're fearsome when you want to be. I wouldn't want you as my enemy" Thioro admitted, smiling with respect "I can't wait to hear what you have to say"

"I'm pretty sure I have a good starting point. That rash on your wrist is gone, and that's the one thing almost all victims had. It's a pattern we can't ignore"

The corners of Thioro's mouth twitched downwards with bemusement. "You're really perceptive..."

 **Injection Marks**

 _All victims except Runihura and Kouma had injection marks on their wrists._

"Do you know anything about that?" she asked. Thioro uncrossed his arms, shaking his head.

"We should wait for the trial. In the meantime I have to check the rest of the cottages – you don't mind if I search in yours too, do you?"

"What? Why?"

"I told you, I think someone among us knows more than they should. Whether it's an accomplice or a traitor doesn't matter, they know something and I want to find out who it is. Besides, what if I stumble upon info about the criminals?"

It wasn't that bad of an idea, although she knew this was Thioro's way of dodging the question. She also didn't like the thought of him rooting around in his cottage, but rejecting that would make her suspicious, wouldn't it? "Sure, go ahead. Just don't make much of a mess"

"By now that's the least of our concerns!"

He had a point. Telling him to do whatever he felt was right, Azalea left the cottage area, going towards the communal building. Had Elaine managed to find a way to enter the third floor? When Azalea arrived to the building, she noticed Spots was sitting behind the counter, Stripes nowhere to be seen. The stuffed animal waved cheerfully, beckoning her.

"Hello! Have you come here to investigate too?"

"Investigate too—wait, you know what we're doing?" So much for getting the upper hand, if they already knew. As soon as she asked that, Azalea grabbed her head, disappointed with herself. Of course they'd know, this virtual world was theirs. No way they didn't know.

Perhaps she sensed what Azalea was thinking, because Spots leaned on the counter, her gaze kindly despite the frown on her snout. "Don't worry, it's okay. We were intending to let you all investigate, but all of you were one step ahead from us"

"Why'd you want us to investigate?"

"Because we now want you to have answers. To be frank, we...we're going to get you guys out of here, but before that, it'd do you some good to understand the situation you're in"

"If you're going to get us out of here then do it already!"

"It's not that simple, we need one criminal more, and to get that last name we need time. Just a couple hours more. Can you endure it?"

They definitely could endure it...as long as they were kept alive, that is. It was good to know the kidnappers intended to get them out, but she had to ask nonetheless: "You're going to get us out and not let us die because of the chloroform, aren't you?"

"I promise" Spots sounded sincere, but Azalea didn't trust her. Not even bothering to acknowledge that promise, Azalea ascended the stairs, finding Stripes with the files about the last killing game in the virtual simulation...and Elaine opening the gate to the third floor. Well that was easy!

Stripes shoved files towards Azalea. "You. Take this"

"What's this?" she took them out of reflex.

"These are files about the final trial that happened in this simulation. You should give it a read, so you know how these things tend to go" Stripes looked like he wanted to tear apart the files "Don't pay attention to the content itself, none of that is relevant to you"

"Then why are you giving this to us?"

"I told you, so you know how a final trial is like! Geez, pay attention, dumbass!" he yelled so loudly Elaine turned her head around, wondering why there was so much noise. _Why's he so angry?_ First Spots told them they were all going to be out of the simulation soon, and now this guy was acting strangely and very abrasive. Something was going on, she had no doubt about that.

 **Final Trial Transcript**

 _A transcript detailing the final trial in a killing game that happened in this simulation. Topics such as the Junko AI, the forced shutdown, the virtual world, SHSL Despair, are discussed were discussed in that trial._

 _I'm not really sure this is going to be of any use._ Throwing those files away was a bad idea, as that could make her the target of Stripes' wrath, so she simply decided to carry it around with no purpose. "Thanks" she said once she finished skimming them. There wasn't really anything worth talking about. Fanning herself with the transcript, Azalea approached Elaine.

The writer directed a curious glance at the transcript but didn't ask for it. "I spent a while trying to force it open, then Spots appeared and told me she'd let me in. Isn't it strange?"

"It smells like a trap but we can't back down. Let's walk right into it"

Together and staying very close to each other, Azalea and Elaine ascended the stairs towards the third floor. As soon as they entered they realized why it had been locked, this clearly was a place they weren't supposed to be in.

The third floor was a small room, with no furniture or objects inside except one large monolith floating in the center. The walls of the room were filled with code, flowing smoothly and showing a lot of indecipherable nonsense. A red, bright light filled the place, giving it a threatening and surreal aura that made them hesitate. "This feels like it's going to blow up the moment we step in," Azalea said, Elaine peeking from behind her.

"Whatever the black stone object is must be very important. If I had to guess...could it be the power source of the entire world?"

"Then it was locked away so we wouldn't destroy it?" It was a possibility. "Whatever. Destroying that would doom us all, I bet. Come on, let's take a closer look without destroying anything"

Nothing exploded when they stepped inside. The floor beneath their feet felt strange, like it was covered with millions of strong and invincible ants, like it was going to disintegrate under them at any moment. Azalea stared at the monolith, examining its smooth surface, and slowly extended a hand until she was touching it with her fingers.

She had barely touched it when the monolith lit up. Red lines crossed it, taking shape and drawing the silhouette of a person. "A teenage girl...?" Elaine wondered, looking at the figure up and down.

"Seems like it. She could be one of the kidnappers," Azalea cautioned, stepping back. The form on the monolith moved, crossing her hands over her lap. The voice that came out of the monolith reverberated in the entire room"

"Hello. My name is Alter Ego. I'm the AI in charge of this simulation. It's nice to finally meet you"

"...in charge? That means she's in cahoots with the kidnappers," Elaine stated "I knew it!"

Alter Ego seemed to feel distraught she was being associated with something like 'kidnapping'. "I'm aware this wasn't the best way for them to complete their mission, but I assure you they have the best intentions"

"People died! People are dying right now!" Azalea protested.

"I'm aware of that...I'm working hard at keeping you all alive. I'm sorry I can't heal you..." she sounded genuinely contrite, Azalea couldn't but soften.

"You're keeping us alive? Why?"

"The purpose of this simulation is not to cause any of your deaths—"

Elaine didn't like that at all. The nerve of these guys, saying their deaths wasn't going to be the point of everything! "If they didn't want us to die they shouldn't have made this killing game in the first place!"

"Oh, no, we're aware of that. That's why we took precautions to avoid the same situation than happened last time" Alter Ego explained "I know it's hard to believe me, but we have the best of intentions towards you all. Or...I should say towards those innocent among you"

"The Main Board" Azalea realized.

"Yes. We were aware there was a risk in having them here, thanks to the person implanted in their minds. The risk of any version of the Enoshima AI, even if it's a prototype, infecting the system was considerable. Don't worry, we ensured she wouldn't be able to cause trouble here"

"What _exactly_ are those measures?"

Alter Ego dimmed a little. "I can't tell you. Sorry...I know it's harder to believe us if I can't prove it, but it's the truth," even though she just said that, she brightened almost immediately. "Wait, I think there's something I may be able to tell you!"

"What's it?" Elaine encouraged. Information at last!

"Last time people were inserted into this virtual world; I wasn't allowed to interact with them in any manner. I was always like an observer, in charge of keeping the world running" Alter Ego's monolith descended to the floor, like she was trying to take a better look at Azalea and Elaine "This time the resources I handle have changed. The world itself has been dramatically reduced, and there's more space and memory allocated to any potential interaction I can have with you all"

... _I'm not sure I understand that_. "Can you explain it in simpler terms?"

"Of course! What I'm trying to say is that I can perform actions I couldn't before, such as...as keeping you alive" _So if it hadn't been for that, we'd all be dead already? I don't get it...why would the kidnappers take such measures to keep us alive? I thought they were okay with putting our lives at risk..._

 **Alter Ego**

 _The overseer of the simulation. Usually she's unable of any interaction with the subjects of the simulation, but changes were made to enable her to perform actions for the benefit of the subjects_

"Wait" Elaine extended a hand "You have limitations? What else can't you do?"

"Um...I have to yield to the administrators' desires. They're the ones in charge, after all", Alter Ego looked around, as if she expected the administrators to be standing around to forbid her from talking – not that it mattered. It was impossible they wouldn't know "I'm not sure if I should say this or not, but since they do want you all to investigate, perhaps I should say this...?"

"What is it?"

"As I said, the administrators are in charge, but this is a virtual world I oversee. To reduce the chances of me going rogue and against their directives, they implemented some...measures to stop me from interfering. Such as being unable to interfere with the killing game under a specific condition"

"What condition is it?" This was starting to sound a tad more important than the admins would want them to know.

"The presence of a specific substance called the Lazarus formula would render me unable to perform any actions. I'd even be unable to see what's going on in the area it's at. I'd be completely powerless"

Azalea crossed her arms, mulling the significance of such information. "That's weirdly specific"

"Oh, it was out of consideration!" Alter Ego chimed "I do not approve anything related to the killing game, so they wanted to spare me having to see any of it. It may be hard to believe, but they actually don't want you to undergo any trauma. You could say one of my main duties is to watch over you all. If anyone tried to kill each other I'm supposed to step in and stop it from happening!"

Elaine shook her head in disbelief. Really? That was something Alter Ego was supposed to do? "Where were you when all of them died?! There are so few of us left! If you could have stopped any of it—"

"I'm sorry...I couldn't. The administrators' orders deterred me, and I couldn't see what was going on. Only now I'm intervening, and it's to deter the poisoning you all are suffering of. I'm really sorry"

"You couldn't see?" It must be highly unusual for the big honcho of the virtual world to not see something in the virtual domain. There had to be something going on – possibly other than the admins' orders? Azalea raised her hands, pleading. "Please, if there's anything you can say, please tell us"

"Um...I'm not sure if this will be useful to you..."

"Anything can help us," Elaine said. That seemed to be enough for Alter Ego, who spilled the beans:

"I cannot determine the reason why given this was done through the administrator console, but there seems to be a limitation to my overseeing abilities. As far as I can tell, if there's some of that formula in use I can't intervene or even see what's happening"

Azalea frowned. That was weirdly specific. "You mean the Lazarus formula?"

"...I don't know much about it. Only the administrators have information about it. I think they may have...avoided letting me see what happens because they know I don't approve"

 **Alter Ego's Limitation**

 _Alter Ego is unable to intervene or see when the Lazarus Formula is being used. This is a restriction imposed by the administrators._

It was information that was much more valuable than Alter Ego imagined. Azalea already could have an idea how meaningful this was. "Thanks. Tell me, what can you say about this virtual world?"

Alter Ego shifted, like she needed to get comfortable before a long dissertation. "I'm going to try to say this in simple terms. This world is made by the Neo World Program, and it allows a realistic experience. This resort was made with assets from a past simulation—"

"Why was a virtual world needed in the first place? It was just so they could keep us under control?" The exact definition of the system was of no concern to them. What they cared about was the reason why such technology had to be used! And right now, it seemed to her it was to subdue them, because if they all were awake in the real world the kidnappers wouldn't be able to do much to handle them.

Alter Ego paused, considering how confidential that information was. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but since you're supposed to investigate...I should inform you the Neo World Program has the capacity of scanning, writing and erasing memories"

"Like we're hard drives or something?"

Alter Ego laughed lightly, appreciating the comparison. Apparently making similes with computer stuff was a way to amuse her. "That's an apt comparison!"

"Sounds incredibly invasive" Elaine growled, not liking the thought of someone messing around with her memories. Her obvious disapproval made Alter Ego's lighthearted moment of amusement vanish.

"Oh...yes, I know it's invasive, but it was what the administrators wanted to do. It's why you all look like you all did in your high school days – the majority of your memories from there on have been extracted"

"Why? Why do they want our memories?"

"I needed to examine them. That's all I can say"

"If this is a virtual world then everyone who died is alive in the real world, right?" Elaine asked. That was what she cared about, not about the details regarding the world's qualities. Alter Ego shook her head.

"I'm sorry...that's not possible. Unfortunately, um...someone who dies in this world suffers...a devastating cerebral damage. The organ is intact, but the consciousness isn't"

"Brain death" Azalea summarized. Elaine inhaled sharply.

"Yes, exactly. Currently there's a non-zero chance of recovery, but the odds are astronomically low and would require a great deal of skill to fix..." _Nothing any of us can do about it. Shit, that means everyone is...!_

Elaine was pale, her eyes wide open. "There has to be a way to help them! Everybody who has died can't be a vegetable right now, you have to do something!"

"I'm sorry, I can't," Alter Ego said, and then added: "If...if it's any consolation, the administrators have done some work on that"

"Some work? They can revive them?!" she really hoped the answer was yes, but Alter Ego's expression wasn't particularly encouraging.

"No, I'm sorry...that's not possible. But there's a fix they requested me to make, to reduce the odds any of you would suffer cerebral death," Alter Ego explained. "If your avatar's biological processes are reduced gradually and without any trauma, there are good chances the real body outside will survive!"

"Really?" Azalea clutched her hands. None of the deaths had been peaceful. So much for reducing processes gradually. "Can you confirm if anyone outside managed to survive their death?"

"Um..." _Oh, great. She's hesitating_. Not a good sign.

 **Neo World Program**

 _The Neo World Program is a virtual world. With it, memories can be examined, written, or erased. Anyone who dies in this virtual world will be braindead in the real world, unless the person who dies perishes in a relatively peaceful manner._

Since she was hesitating, it was unlikely they could get much more from her on that topic. Azalea looked at Elaine, shrugging. "I can't think of anything else to ask. Got any ideas?"

The writer nodded, looking up at Alter Ego. "Tell us about our kidnappers. What kind of people are they?"

Alter Ego frowned at the word 'kidnappers', but it wasn't like it was the wrong word to use. "They're a group of survivors of other killing games. Together they gathered you all—"

"They _survived killing games_?!" Elaine yelled "They survived killing games and even despite that they're making us do this?! What the hell?!"

"Elaine, calm down..." Azalea tried to smooth things over, but the writer was furious about that, grabbing Azalea's arm with both hands.

"They should know better than anyone what kind of hell this is! Why would they want to do this to other people?!"

Elaine had a point. It was rather callous of them to force others to go through the same experience, no matter the circumstances. "We don't know what happened in their games. It may have twisted them into monsters or something"

"Um..." Alter Ego tried to get their attention, "If I may speak about that...I have information about the three masterminds, now that you're bringing that up..." on the smooth screen of the monolith appeared a bunch of text "...these may be of help to you?"

"What are those?"

"Psychological reports," Alter Ego explained, "From those who man the administrator figures in this simulation" _That could be useful!_ Anything that makes them understand better how they tick will be good. "Press one with your hand to expand the file. I'll leave you to read these files..."

With that as a farewell, Alter Ego vanished from the monolith, it fell onto the floor. The floorboards creaked so noisily Azalea thought for a moment the floor would break and everything would fall through all the way to the first floor. Once they were sure nothing was going to happen, Azalea slowly approached the monolith, her hand extended. "Azalea, are you sure about this?" Elaine asked, "She may have been lying"

"We won't know until we check by ourselves" Azalea replied softly, pressing with her fingertips one of the lines. Indeed, it was a psychological report. "Hey, look at this!"

 _Akane Ogata. Age: 26. Former SHSL Chemist. Survivor of a killing game._

 _Psychological examinations determine Ogata feels less empathetic since the killing game. She shows enough awareness to fear what this may mean and what this can lead her to do, The people she survived the game with are her priority in her life._

 _Note: there's some slight scarring in her brain tissue, barely visible through a scan. Some of it is located at the part of the brain that rules over conscious thoughts and rationality. The extent of how this affects her judgment and behavior is yet to be determined._

"This does hint it's true they survived killing games..." Azalea said. Elaine crossed her arms, not liking at all what she was reading.

"She doesn't care about us. She only cares about her accomplices"

"I wouldn't say it like that..." they couldn't know how this Akane Ogata person felt. Elaine's judgment was a tad hasty, but it wasn't baseless. After all, they all were locked in this virtual game and forced to kill each other. That didn't suggest much empathy towards them at all.

"Do you think we can use this against her?"

Azalea's lips formed a thin line. "Hardly, but this may help us understand her. That has to be good for something"

 **Akane Ogata's Psychological Report**

 _Akane Ogata. Age: 26. Former SHSL Chemist. Survivor of a killing game. Psychological examinations determine Ogata feels less empathetic since the killing game. She shows enough awareness to fear what this may mean and what this can lead her to do, The people she survived the game with are her priority in her life. Note: there's some slight scarring in her brain tissue, barely visible through a scan. Some of it is located at the part of the brain that rules over conscious thoughts and rationality. The extent of how this affects her judgment and behavior is yet to be determined._

"No wonder we're screwed. Someone like her is in charge of us..." Elaine said, "Which one is she handling? Monobear?"

"Possibly. Let's see the others" Akane opened the next report. It had a different name.

 _Mitsuhiko Hikari. Age: 25. Former SHSL Hunter. Only survivor of a killing game._

 _Psychological examinations determine Hikari feels a lot of guilt over being the only survivor of the killing game he took part of. Sessions have shown Hikari suffers nightmares about the others demanding him to save them. He has also expressed his only purpose in life is to find those who caused all the suffering he witnessed._

"A zealot," Azalea concluded. "He's hunting those criminals"

"He got them already. I bet he's the one who found us no matter where in the world we were"

"Yeah, most likely.

 **Mitsuhiko Hikari's Psychological Report**

 _Mitsuhiko Hikari. Age: 25. Former SHSL Hunter. Only survivor of a killing game. Psychological examinations determine Hikari feels a lot of guilt over being the only survivor of the killing game he took part of. Sessions have shown Hikari suffers nightmares about the others demanding him to save them. He has also expressed his only purpose in life is to find those who caused all the suffering he witnessed._

"A zealot and someone with reduced empathy. We're lucky we're not dead right now" Azalea said, feeling chills down her spine. That kind of people was terrifying, and they had both of them at the helm of the simulation. With some luck, the last one would be some sort of calming presence, but she didn't really think that was possible.

"Aren't you going to open the last one?" Elaine encouraged when Azalea kept staring at the next file without trying to open it. Perhaps Azalea dreaded what they may read? Deciding they had to do it anyway, Elaine pressed her palm onto the file, expanding the text:

 _Mika Yamaguchi. Age: 25. Former SHSL Fashion Designer. Survivor of a killing game._

 _Psychological examinations determine Yamaguchi fears she has been tainted by Junko Enoshima's influence, and that she'll end being like her someday. There's no indication Yamaguchi suffers from despair of any kind, but she fears that heavily._

 _There are signs of PTSD. Treatment has been effective, although she has shown intense fear of firearms. Yamaguchi will freeze and lose consciousness at the sight of a firearm._

"Someone who was once in contact with Enoshima. No wonder she's one of the kidnappers" Elaine said bitterly.

"The file says she's afraid about being like her"

"Being afraid of that doesn't mean she didn't end being like Enoshima. She could be insane too" It wasn't like Elaine was wrong. There was a chance.

 **Mika Yamaguchi's Psychological Report**

 _Mika Yamaguchi. Age: 25. Former SHSL Fashion Designer. Survivor of a killing game. Psychological examinations determine Yamaguchi fears she has been tainted by Junko Enoshima's influence, and that she'll end being like her someday. There's no indication Yamaguchi suffers from despair of any kind, but she fears that heavily. There are signs of PTSD. Treatment has been effective, although she has shown intense fear of firearms. Yamaguchi will freeze and lose consciousness at the sight of a firearm._

"Those seem to be all the reports here. I think we're done with Alter Ego." Who knew how much time they had to investigate before they got stopped. Azalea wanted to cover as much ground as possible, solve as many mysteries as they could.

Azalea stepped away, getting stopped when Elaine grabbed her from the elbow. "Wait, there's another file here"

"Eh?" She was right, there was. It didn't seem like it was another psychological report. "What's this?"

"Let's find out" Elaine opened the file. It seemed to be an internal memo of some sort:

 _Yukio._

 _Runihura is dead. His throat was slit, there was blood everywhere. Thioro investigated the scene, he said he didn't know who the killer is but he plans to make them reveal themselves once he gets a chance. He has returned to the simulation, so expect him to talk to you about this at some point._

 _Take care. Watch out for anyone with Enoshima in their head._

 _-Akane._

The girls looked at the note, rereading it over and over and trying to understand what it meant. It was mindboggling for several reasons, so many Azalea didn't even know where to start. Did the admins want them to see this? It seemed like sensitive information, it was possible this concrete piece of info wasn't meant to be seen. In that case, did Alter Ego reveal this, even if it was something she shouldn't have done? Could she even go against the administrators' wishes?

Azalea really didn't know what to think.

"Um, got an explanation for this?" Elaine wondered, frowning. It was a very bizarre note, in her opinion. "I don't get any of this.

"Well...I guess Runihura was murdered for real. He died in the simulation, but in the real world he'd be turned into a vegetable, he wouldn't be dead"

"If he was actually murdered, do you think the others could have suffered that too?"

It was possible, but what was the point of killing them after turning them into empty husks? There wasn't a reason for that – or at least she couldn't think of one right now. No, there had to be something she was missing... "That aside, Thioro investigated Runihura's death"

"He hasn't ever left the simulation, he can't have—"

"Oh, I get it now" Azalea stared at her own wrist. She had an idea of how Thioro could have done such a thing. "If we have enough time I'm going to have some harsh words with him, that I can say for sure" she didn't go into further detail. Elaine raised her eyebrows, surprised.

"Okay...the last part I'm wondering about is that who is this Yukio guy. One of the admins?"

"If it was one of the admins Thioro could have talked to them outside the simulation. This makes it sound like this Yukio guy is inside the virtual world, don't you think?"

"I guess it does, now that you mention it. It'd be easy for one of them to hide somewhere in the virtual world, they'd know the right places to hide in," Elaine said, "That or he's someone who has lived so far"

"Do you really think one of us may be one of the kidnappers?"

"It's possible. Maybe he's Matthew – pretending to be my brother" _Oh, so that's why she wants to think it's that_. Azalea couldn't blame her. Unsure how she'd bring this note to everyone else, she asked Elaine to write the info down, for use later. _We'll figure out later what's going on. Right now I need to look for information, not try to decipher it immediately._

It didn't seem like Alter Ego had anything else to say to them anyway. Even though Elaine tried to get the AI to return, she didn't appear again. Reading again the notes she made about the files they just read, Elaine commented she didn't expect to get so much from Alter Ego. "I thought she'd be more careful with the information"

"The admins want us to find out what's going on. She must be following orders.

"Nothing we can complain about" the writer admitted. Once they left the Petting Zoo and the building, Elaine and Azalea separated, going in different directions. The false motivator stepped away from the building, putting her hands on her hips and trying to think back to what she had planned just an hour ago.

Okay, where next...? By now everyone else must have done some progress in their investigation. She couldn't waste time wandering around, she'd risk passing near them without noticing. Hoping for a lucky break, Azalea walked to the plaza with the Monobear statue, since there were several buildings around it. Could some of her friends be in them?

They were – Kamiya and Lucien were exploring every inch of the glitched building, the one with the armory, pharmacy and music club smashed together. They had managed to open what seemed to be a square on the wall, leading to the outside. It was located near the stage, challenging the very fabric of reality. "As much reality as we can have in this virtual world, I guess..." Azalea muttered, approaching. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Don't say that like we broke open the wall. Kamiya found it" Lucien was intrigued, but he stayed some distance away from the hole, just in case this had been a bad idea.

"I saw a very thin slit, and this was the result of pushing against it" Kamiya explained "This is a pattern by now. Isn't it cool?"

"A pattern...?" Azalea stared at the wall, like she expected to see something on it. Lucien shook his head.

"No, no, not a pattern on the wall. What he means is that there has been one of these in every building we have checked"

 _Huh._ "Really? Were they hard to find?"

"Of course they were! If it hadn't been for Matthew telling us about them, we'd never even know they existed," the pharmacist ducked and went through the hole. "But why do they exist?"

"Yes, that's the big question here," Lucien agreed. "It's not like the admins need doors or anything like that. They could teleport inside easily"

"What was it you had said before...?"

Lucien turned to Azalea. "If the admins don't need these yet these holes exist, then the only conclusion is that they're here for someone who does need it"

It sounded pretty obvious when said like that, but that was how the simplest explanation was supposed to sound like. "For who?"

"I dunno. That's the mystery here"

 **Secret Passageways**

 _The majority of the buildings in Heavenly Resort have some sort of secret passageway. These are rather difficult to find, indicating the intention is to have them hidden from everyone except those privy to their existence._

 **Administrators**

 _The two beings that handle the events in the simulation. Their names are Spots and Stripes, and are simply two of the kidnappers' avatars in the resort._

"Have you found anything else?" Azalea asked. Lucien didn't even get to answer to that before an announcement sounded. The by-now familiar melody interrupted him, bringing dread to Azalea. This wasn't the time for this!

"Um, I think this has gone for long enough," Monobear's voice reverberated throughout the resort. "I hope you managed to find some useful data, because it's time for the final trial! The time to solve as many mysteries as possible! Get to the train station, like usual, and remember:

This is your only chance. Don't screw up!"

"...it's time," Azalea swallowed, feeling her throat dry all of a sudden. The idea of having to solve as many mysteries as possible was terrifying. What if they got something wrong? Would the kidnappers punish them? That'd be unfair! Then again, they hadn't been the paragons of fairness so far...it was a real possibility, as much as she didn't like to think about it.

Nothing to do but do their best and pray.

Kamiya peeked into the building. "We didn't find anything else. I hope this will be of use to you, Azalea" It was hard to say right now if it would. She'd have time to think about it once they were at the trial. With a hesitant smile, she signaled to Kamiya it was okay to leave, she'd take her sweet time to get to the station.

It was as if she was trying to buy time by going leisurely. By now she doubted Monobear or the administrators would punish her for something as asinine as walking slowly. She just wanted a bit of time to order her thoughts, try to make everything make sense. It was much more difficult than she expected, though.

Many of the clues they had found were odd in that they contradicted a few of their guesses and made the admins' motivations be murkier than they already were. Why so many failsafes to protect them if in the end they were going to kill each other? Why were there no clues about the criminals? If they were meant to catch them, then why didn't the kidnappers give them not even a single useful clue about that?

The part about them being survivors of killing game befuddled her, too. They were the last people she thought would throw others into killing games. Had she misjudged their situation? Perhaps there was more to all this than met the eye...?

By the time she got to the train station, she hadn't been able to determine anything. The rest of the Hostages chided her for being late, Monobear simply stared at her. _What are you thinking?_ Last: why were the kidnappers willing to give them information to solve these mysteries about their intentions? Did something change that make them want to do this? What was going on in the real world that ended with Runihura's comatose body getting killed for real?

Outside the train, the night sky was beautiful. A large moon decorated the sky, surrounded by many stars. It was hard to believe in one single day Azalea woke up stuck in a cabinet, investigated a murder, had to accuse and vote for one of her best friends in the simulation, was irreversibly poisoned with chloroform, had once another trial, and now had investigated everything they could. All that in one day...

"I think we should all be worried about this" she said to the window. It was all too much for so little time.

A voice sounded from behind her. She turned around, seeing Thioro. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"I don't know. There's been too much to think about." _And something's going on with you_. It wasn't that she didn't trust Thioro, it was that she was now aware he was hiding something. Thioro didn't seem too worried about the last trial.

"Don't overexert yourself, there's going to be plenty to talk about in the trial"

He was right. No matter what, they were going to have to deal with pretty much everything that had happened since their arrival to this place. Answers needed to be found! Because they were on the final stretch, Azalea almost expected to find something different in the trial room, but nothing had changed. The same circle of podiums, the screen on the other side of the room, Monobear's throne...

The only difference was Matthew, chained to his podium. Matthew looked up when everyone entered, seemingly bored with his situation. "Oh? Is it starting now?" he mumbled. He didn't seem to be hurt at all, or even punished in any manner other than being chained to the podium. Azalea felt a shiver when he glanced at her. His stare was like concentrated emptiness; she didn't dare to try to understand what was going on in his mind.

 _But why's he here?_ Why was he still alive, even when he was found guilty last trial?

 **Matthew's Survival**

 _Despite being found guilty during the fifth trial, Matthew was not executed, instead he was chained to his podium and left in the trial room._

"It's odd. Look, the chain's connected to his ankle" Dalia commented, pointing at what she was talking about. To her side, Azalea frowned.

"What's odd about that?"

"Why wouldn't the admins chain his hands or something? If he's like this then he could try to find a way to escape. This is dangerous"

"They may not have anything to hold his hands" Lucien theorized. However, the ecologist had an objection to that. She grabbed one of her wrists.

"No, that's wrong! I remember all the killers until now had handcuffs on them. I don't think the admins throw those handcuffs away, they should have plenty"

"...you're right. I had forgotten that" he admitted. While Lucien and Dalia continued discussing that, Azalea thought back to the executions. Indeed, all the culprits had handcuffs. Why were the admins risking Matthew doing something? Perhaps they knew something the other Hostages didn´t?

 _Christ, can't anything be simple and nice for once?!_

 **Handcuffs**

 _Until now all killers had handcuffs on them before they got executed. Matthew, despite being a culprit, did not get restrained with handcuffs._

All of the remaining survivors stood at the right spots, nervous. A dense silence filled the room, while they waited for Monobear to appear. The throne stayed empty, though. It was several minutes before Lucien broke the silence. "Why's taking him so long?"

"Until now Monobear had been there all the time," Elaine mentioned. "The fact he's not there in the first place is odd"

"Do you think something happened to the kidnapper who—"

"Stop the panic! I'm here. Thank you for coming!"

 _As if we had any other option_. Monobear didn't appear on his throne, though. Instead he was on one of the podiums that belonged to the deceased, "What are you doing over there?" Thioro asked. Monobear, smiling widely, spoke pleasantly.

"Oh, no reason! I just like the sight from here. Look at you all, sitting there dumbfounded. I almost wish I could see that face again!"

"Please don't listen to him," a different voice rang out. From another podium, Spots appeared. Stripes was right on the podium to her right. "It's necessary for this trial. That's why we're all here"

Dalia narrowed her eyes. "You three are going to take part of this?"

"We have to. I'm sure you all will have a lot of questions for us, so of course—"

"This should make it easier for you all to listen our answers!"

It couldn't be that simple. In Azalea's opinion, this was more likely to cause trouble, not to be of any help. Nothing the remaining survivors could do about it, though. All they could do was fight back during the trial and solve all the mysteries that remained. Facing the three stuffed animals, she took a deep breath, gathering courage.

"This is it. The last trial. We're going to solve everything...

...and then we're getting out of here no matter what!"


End file.
